CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — It’s out with the old, and in with the new for Corpus Christi City Hall. For the past few months city council meetings have been held at the RTA building as the chambers get a major makeover.
For officials, the technological infrastructure was not up to par after years of continuous updating. As they began planning, they decided it would be most efficient to start from scratch on this $2.5 million project.
The city allowed 3NEWS to see the construction phase of what has been a long time coming for Corpus Christi.
Jeff Edmonds, director of engineering services said he envisioned the chambers with a certain caliber of production, especially for broadcast. To him, the lighting, and acoustics weren’t good enough.
"There was a lot of deficiencies in the technology," he said. "The audio visuals were not up to par for the audience. If you ever sat in there and observed the council meetings, it's difficult sometimes to see the presentations. Council had difficulty too."
The construction for the new chambers will cost about $1 million, while the technological infrastructure is estimated to cost $1.5 million.
When asked if the motivation for the modernization was leaning towards being more aesthetically pleasing, Edmonds answered that it was a secondary concern and explained the council members and general public's experience is taking the primary role.
"Help improve the experience of both the council members and the general public," he said. "It is very much a studio when you're producing the council meetings and its broadcast."
The new chambers will be fully ADA compliant, something the previous chambers was not. The project is expected to be completed in February 2024. Edmonds said his team may be on track to beat that deadline.