Shawano city officials seek to remodel City Hall to the point where there’s one public entrance for city officials and the police department.
The issue was brought to the Shawano Common Council on Sept. 23 for discussion. City Administrator Eddie Sheppard noting that anyone parking in the city lot can easily see the main entrance, but they have to go to the eastern side of the building to access the police station. The plans currently being considered would have the main entrance remain and convert the current police lobby into needed office space.
“We believe this will allow us to continue to operate with the staffing consolidation that we’ve done in the last year,” Sheppard said.
City Clerk Lesley Nemetz noted that the city decided in 2024 to eliminate one clerk position for the police department after the two clerks there retired. Nemetz said having the one clerk has worked, with the exception of when that clerk goes on vacation or has sick or personal days. When that happens, someone at City Hall has to work the police front desk because of the two entrances.
“Now we need to take that next step and trying to be as efficient as we can be,” Nemetz said. “What that does is provide an expansion of needed office space on the PD (police department) side.”
Closing the police station lobby would allow the police clerk to be in the same area as other clerks and employees and make the vacancy easier to staff when someone’s absent, Nemetz said.
Currently, the entrance to the police station is not compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act due to the step in front of the door, whereas the main entrance can be accessed by wheelchair and other accessibility devices, according to Nemetz.
A big change that would be needed if the police entrance is closed is that an after-hours vestibule be set up in City Hall for emergencies. Nemetz said a closet near the main entrance would go away to make the renovation possible.
“It would provide a weather setup for City Hall employees,” Nemetz said. “Right now, when the front door opens, all that cold air rushes in, so having this dual-door vestibule also helps with those situations.”
Removal of an underused restroom for the police department would be part of the remodel, along with extending the hallway for the City Hall restrooms to provide secure access to the police department.
The mayor’s office is being returned to where it previously was next to the council chambers, giving City Hall back a small meeting room that could also be used by the police for interviewing victims, according to Nemetz.
“If you can imagine you’re a victim of a crime or sexual assault of a child, something of that nature, and you need to be interviewed by a police officer, having to go into a cold, hard, standard interview room is not the most comfortable location to have those conversations in,” Nemetz said. “Being able to use this space could also include a soft interview room where victims can go and have those hard conversations.”
Sheppard noted that the City Hall was not originally built with what officials have in mind today, but it was better to do some remodeling rather than expanding or relocating offices.
“This will allow us to keep our staff overhead down while providing the same level of service,” Sheppard said.
Costs for the renovation were included in the 2025 capital plan, he said, and estimates are being obtained.
A final decision on the remodeling is not expected until the council approves the 2026 budget in November.
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com