Renovation enters final stage after approval

The final phase of a two-department renovation project was approved at the Tuesday, Nov. 10, Weatherford City Council meeting. Completion is now set to be in January. 

At a cost of about $1.8 million DRI Construction will finish the shared offices of the Parks and Recreation and Development and Neighborhood Services departments located at 118 Columbia St.. Both departments were previously in Old City Hall off Palo Pinto Street. 

In this phase DRI will complete interior work needed within 75 calendar days, Jaycob Kirkpatrick, director of Parks and Recreations, said as he talked members through the shown floor plan. 

“This final phase includes front-entry store-front installation; interior and exterior paint; HVAC work; insulation/drywall; all exterior work; cabinetry; flooring … basically all finish-out work,” he told council. “DRI is moving extremely fast to get this project completed.”

An item for a budget amendment for the IT package for the building will be presented at a future meeting, Kirkpatrick said, as some costs have changed but are not yet finalized. 

“When I first was elected mayor … I toured every department, as every council member does now,” Mayor Paul Paschall said. “The first facility I went to was Old City Hall. After that, the conversation was how do we expect people who are developers that come to Weatherford to build a quality product when we’re having them come do their presentations in a building that’s finished out to this quality?”

Paschall added the new offices weren’t a result of his observation; it happened because “this is the vision and expectation we have not only for our communities but for our employees.”

“I’m so excited this is happening,” he said. “This is an important step to improve our facilities short-term and long-term.”

City Manager James Hotopp also noted all the facilities being upgraded were made possible by saving money each fiscal year.

“These things were done through saving dollars in a normal budget process and using cash on hand and not issuing debt for these,” he said. “[We’re] not raising taxes for these but doing them without our means, doing them correctly, and with the money we have.”

Council then approved the item unanimously. 

With approval, the total amount spent on this project to date is about $2.99 million. The initial budget was approved at $3 million in fiscal year 2026. The unused portion will be carried forward to FY27 in a future budget amendment.

Also at the meeting, council: 

Received a bi-annual update from Amme O’Grady, executive director of Downtown Weatherford Inc., on what the non-profit organization is doing for the downtown merchants and preservation of the character of the area. O’Grady highlighted some of the struggles she and the organization have faced since taking over from previous management. She also spoke about events that happened or were postponed/canceled and some of the organization’s plans for the coming year. Some discussions regarding the organization’s financials and contract language took place and a future agenda item was later requested to further delve into the specifics and particulars. The item is tentatively scheduled for December.