(ABC 6 News) – The City of Albert Lea is continuing its plans to remodel parts of city hall.

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The building was constructed in 1967, and other than improvements to the library in 2007, it hasn’t been updated since.

Upgrades the city is looking to make include improving emergency exits, adding a public meeting room, and adding a staff breakroom and staff-only bathrooms.

However, the biggest changes are being made to the office areas on the first and third floor.

Those plans include knocking down walls to create a large, open environment, with one wall of windows separating the public from the employee-only areas.

City staff will be able to access those areas with keycards, to improve security.

Ward 6 councilor Brian Anderson says the goal is to combine what is currently closed off office spaces, so people can work more efficiently with other departments.

“People got to work together, we gotta combine the working spaces, and also there’s some security concerns too, just to, you know, secure the building a little bit better,” said Anderson.

Another goal is to make more efficient use of the overall space, such as eliminating large server rooms that go mostly unused and take up more space than needed, while giving people who work in cramped smaller offices, more room to get their work done.

Also in the plans, is to add cameras and exterior lighting.

“We’ll be getting more efficient lighting and some energy upgrades, and that’ll save the taxpayers some money in the future,” said Anderson.

There will also be critical repairs made, such as one window to a first-floor office that leaks when it rains, leaving puddles inside.

There are more areas in the building where old rooms are going mostly unused, which officials would have liked to include in the remodel plans, but not everything on the wish-list could fit into the budget.

The estimated price tag for the whole project is $1.5 million, but the city is looking into options that will burden taxpayers the least.

“There’s other projects that we’re still waiting to get bids on, so we, you know, we probably have some reserves,” said Anderson.

None of the plans are set in stone yet because everything depends on what kind of funding the city can get, but Anderson says the bids are already rolling in.

The library and other public areas will not be included in any of the remodel.