ST. CHARLES, Mo. – A proposal by the City of St. Charles that would give voters the power to authorize a new city hall complex is not going over well with some residents.

City officials have released new information on the costs of moving or staying in the same building and conducting renovations.

Mayor Dan Borgmeyer said it would cost $41 million to renovate the building and construct a new addition to create more space for the center of city government. He believes it’s time to leave the current city hall and build an entire new complex.

“We have four people in a room where we should have one person. We’re on top of one another,” he said. “We actually have weight restrictions because of storage restrictions and stuff we have to keep for 10 years. And it’s just functionally obsolete. It doesn’t work anymore.”

What would happen to the property if city hall was relocated?

“It will either be repurposed for another government entity or it will go to private enterprise,” Borgmeyer said. “We’ve had people talking about turning it into apartments!”

However, the mayor is quick to point out that these aren’t offers.

“We’ve had discussions with people who are interested in purchasing,” he said. “What we’re going to do is it will probably take two years to build the new city hall, so we’ll lease it back from whoever we sell it, too.”

The city wants to build a new complex that would include the city hall, a senior citizen center, a recreation center, and more. The cost of the complex would be $85 million, more than twice the price of renovating the current building.

City officials will put a bond issue on the April ballot to pay for a new complex. They claim it would not mean a tax increase for residents.