Dover to purchase downtown First Federal building to house some municipal offices

• The city of Dover will be purchasing the downtown First Federal Community Bank building for additional office space.
• The city then plans to renovate city hall for more space for the police department and the adjacent building for more space for the fire department.

DOVER ‒ The city will purchase the First Federal Community Bank building in downtown Dover to house some municipal offices.

On Monday, Dover City Council authorized Mayor Shane Gunnoe to spend $1 million to purchase the First Federal building at 321 N. Wooster Ave., as well as the office of Ohio Real Title Agency, located behind First Federal at 112 E. Fourth St.

Gunnoe said the city hopes to take ownership of the entire property by the end of the year.

"It would begin part of a multi-phase process of upgrading our city downtown facilities that has been discussed by city council on and off since at least January of 2010," the mayor told council.

"We've been fortunate. First Federal has expressed interest in selling that location to us. As you know, they have additional locations in north Dover and the Boulevard and felt that they did not need that location at this point.

"We believe it allows us to address those long-standing concerns."

What is planned

The First Federal building will house the offices of the mayor, service director, safety director and human resources director, as well as the utility billing office. The basement of the building will be the home of city council. The structure will be renovated to make both levels handicap accessible. The title office will house Auditor Nicole Stoldt and her staff.

A total of 16 employees will work in these two buildings.

That will be the first phase of the project. Phase 2 will involve renovation of city hall to give more space to the police department. The space currently housing the service director behind the fire station will be used for office space and an expanded kitchen for the fire department. The area housing the auditor's office and utility billing office will become sleeping space for firefighters, including a dedicated sleeping area for female firefighters. Gunnoe stressed that these plans are tentative.

Phase 3 will involve construction of a garage between the fire station and Race Street to house secondary fire equipment.

The Dover council chambers at 121 E. Second St. will become a safety force training center.

Estimated cost

The total project ‒ real estate acquisition and renovations ‒ is expected to cost around $2.5 million. Gunnoe said the city will use existing funds to pay for the project, with the money coming from the master capital fund. Much of the project will be financed. He added that it will not require a tax increase.

First Federal employees working at the downtown location will keep their jobs and be transferred to the other two Dover locations, Gunnoe said.

The ATM machine at the downtown location will be retained as part of an agreement that will run for the next 20 years. First Federal will be responsible for the machine.

"We thought it would be a nice convenience for our utility customers," Gunnoe said.

Reach Jon at 330-364-8415 or at jon.baker@timesreporter.com.