The new address is 1 Galambos Way— a street named after the first mayor of Sandy Springs— and that’s the location where the new city hall/government complex will be officially opened and previewed by the public later today. Five stories tall, the large city hall (a big theater doubles as the City Council chamber) is just one part of City Springs, a $229 million mixed-use complex that is opening in stages over the course of the year.
Mayor Rusty Paul told this writer that it is intended to be far more than just a place for City Council meetings and government offices. It’s everybody’s central city meeting place. “We wanted this to be not only the most publicly accessible, but he most publicly usable city hall in the area,” he said. (And there’s free Wi-Fi.)
This writer took a recent tour of City Springs and was impressed with a city hall far easier to navigate than trying to figure out which municipal office to visit in the present, sprawling Roswell Road location. The license office, for example, is easily accessible from the main entrance and from elevators to the 1,000-car underground parking garage.
It was just 13 years ago when Sandy Springs became a city through a referendum that generated a 94 percent “yes” vote. The popular Eva Galambos was elected mayor and she and the City Council quickly launched what first interim city manager Oliver Porter calls the first American city that “outsourced almost everything.” Today, the city of approximately 100,000 people boasts of many new roads, more neighborhood sidewalks, a state-of-the-art traffic system and award-winning parks. All this has occurred with no tax increases— even though major capital improvements have been funded.
Now Sandy Springs has a new city center. It is also fitting that the late mayor’s husband John Galambos is expected to be among the guests for tomorrow’s city hall ribbon-cutting. For more information about City Springs, including time-lapse videos (to view, Click Here), please visit the City Springs website.
