Municipal Complex to open this month

When the mayor of Mountain Brook moves into his new office this month, he’ll be in the midst of several important neighbors. The new Mountain Brook Municipal Complex, constructed as an effort to centralize services, will house the Mountain Brook Fire Department, City Council, Chamber of Commerce and Courthouse under one roof.

The Police Department will be connected by an underground parking lot.

For the past two years, the Police and Fire Departments have been located in Office Park. The mayor has been operating from home,m and the City Council and other administrative employees have been working in offices on Montclair Road.

The new all-in-one $16.5 million Complex will be open in late April. Not only is the building designed for practicality and efficiency, but it also contains elements of history to capitalize on its uniqueness:

• Fire Chief Robert Ezekiel secured an H-beam from the World Trade Center. The bronze base, designed by metalworker and artist Shea Scully, mimics the structure of the beam and holds it in a vertical position to honor the tower from which it originated.
• The existing police monument depicting an officer holding a child’s hand will be placed on Oak Street. The monument commemorates officers who have fallen in the line of duty.
• A 2-foot-by-1-foot time capsule box is concerning historic events occurring in Mountain Brook, including copies of Village Living. The capsule will be located in the wall underneath the monumental stairs in the main lobby.
• Spartan Square, the front courtyard beside the city hall entrance has Mountain Brook high school students and alumni names engraved into bricks.
• A $200,000 fountain is currently being designed for Spartan Square.

Security and durability were also key components of the facility’s design. Here are some interesting features of the complex:

• The underground parking lot contains a 280 square-foot backup emergency response center, complete with full-power, emergency dispatch, phones, screens and data for the city manager, police and fire departments in case anything were to damage the above-ground facilities.
• The two buildings were designed to withstand approximately winds up to 112 mph, F1 tornadoes and strong Category 2 hurricanes.
• Security clearance card readers will restrict administrative facilities from the public.
• The Police Department facility will have select bulletproof windows.
• The main complex and police department are linked by an underground parking lot, which can serve to keep inmates off the street before and after court.
• The Police Department will have 10 inmate cells and two holding cells. All necessities of facilitating an arrested individual will be in one building again. While the department was under construction, police operated from Office Park, held arrested individuals in jails of neighboring communities and court in Vestavia.
• The parking lot has approximately 60 parking spots and is for employee use only. Only a few employee vehicles will remain in street-level parking.
• The Chamber of Commerce and the Fire Department have separate entrances on Hoyt Street, linked by a covered sidewalk.