Culver City : Budget for City Hall Cut

The Redevelopment Agency on Monday cut more than $1 million from the construction of the new City Hall, bringing the budget for the project to $22.7 million.

In March, the agency demanded that the architect, CHCG Inc., slash at least $1 million from the project after the estimated construction cost reached $8 million more than the figures CHCG submitted during the design competition early last year.

After a slide presentation illustrating the proposed changes, agency members voted 4 to 1, with member Steven Gourley dissenting, to accept all but two of the architect’s 14 recommended reductions. They returned $203,000 to the project for a higher-grade roofing tile and to keep a three-story interior atrium around the public counters rather than reduce the opening to two floors.

The revised design has less landscaping and fewer fountains, a less expensive air-conditioning system and cheaper floor paving. The single biggest cut--$300,000--came from the allotment for audiovisual equipment for the council chambers.