Opelika City Hall undergoing renovation

The first floor of the Opelika City Hall is currently undergoing a major renovation — the first in more than 20 years.

Interior changes to the first floor will include new lighting, carpet, paint, blinds and furniture, according to City Administrator John Seymour.

The ground floor houses the purchasing and revenue offices, the Opelika Light & Power billing office and the city council chambers. The blue partitions in the Opelika Light & Power payment office installed in 1986 during the last major renovation will be taken down, according to Opelika Light & Power Customer Service Supervisor Scarlett Mann.

Exterior changes will include replacing the brick pavers with ceramic tiles and installing new windows, Seymour said.

In addition, a vacuum system will be installed at the Opelika Light & Power drive-through window for bill payment. The system will be similar to those used by banks and require customers to place payments in a canister, Seymour said.

The customer service representative will be inside at the front counter instead of sitting isolated in the drive-through window, Mann said. The change will allow the city to cross train employees to work the window and the front counter on slow days, she said.

“It’ll be much more efficient having the drive-through person on the inside, and I think it’ll look a lot more professional,” Mann said. The city is taking Opelika Light & Power customers into account during the renovation, Seymour said. Most of the work will be done on weekends, he said.

“It’s going to be business as usual at the front counter,” he said. “We don’t want to create a disruption for customers.”

The Opelika City Hall first floor renovations are slated to be finished in about 40 days, Seymour said.

The second floor of 56-year-old city hall, which includes the mayor’s office, was renovated last year. The city hall basement was renovated in 2002, when the city’s IT department was relocated there.