LARGO, Fla. — In one week, the new $85-million Largo City Hall will officially open its doors for the first time. This long-awaited facility, called Horizon West Bay, sits at the heart of downtown Largo.
This project has been years in the making. Groundbreaking took place in October 2022 and it was supposed to open at the end of 2024. The pandemic and hurricanes contributed to the delays in the project. Now, it’ll officially open May 19.
City leaders explain that this space had input from community members including 279 survey responses, four stakeholder focus groups, webinars, workshops, and public feedback sessions.
This building was intended to have a modern look with glass throughout. Artwork from local artists is also placed around the building.
The front entrance to the new Largo City Hall that will open next week. (Spectrum News/Justina Rhines)
Architect John Curran spoke about the building’s open design.
“I like to think that that light and that sense of airiness opens the door for collaboration and really just a completely open work environment,” said Curran.
This massive space features an outdoor plaza, event and retail space, and open-concept workspaces. Retail tenants include Parlor Doughnuts, Louis Pappas Fresh Greek, and Strachan’s Ice Cream.
The building includes more than 23 meeting rooms, nine private phone rooms, and two training rooms.
The outdoor plaza can support markets, live music, and events. Above the plaza is a 340-kilowatt solar panel system spanning more than 25,000 square feet.
Horizon West Bay will also have a free parking garage with more than 300 spaces, including 11 electric vehicle charging stations.
Horizon Operations Manager Charles Stanton gave Spectrum Bay News 9 a tour of the facility.
Beyond the grand entrance is the community corner, which includes an event space and commission chambers.
The community event space can hold up to 150 people.
“There’s a lot more room for the residents to come in and business owners to participate,” said Stanton.
On the second floor, residents and business owners can access community development services and the planning division for permits.
Stanton added, “I think you’ll be able to serve more people and be a little bit more effective in how you do it.”
The third floor houses fire and engineering, while IT occupies the fourth floor.
The fifth floor has the mayor’s office and city administration. It includes the marketing team, clerk and budget office. There’s a training lounge for employees, as well. The fifth floor also offers a panoramic view of Largo.
Stanton said they are hoping to find a destination restaurant and a bar/brewery concept to fit into the space.
Chris Tillett, who oversees Largo’s economic development and housing divisions, called Horizon West Bay a massive investment for the city.
“This is probably the biggest project that the city has undertaken. This represents a major milestone for downtown. This takes a couple of city blocks here. So, this is one of the biggest, actually the biggest project in our downtown,” Tillett said.
Tillett believes this shows Largo is open for business.
“We’re hoping that in addition to us putting retail here that’s going to allow additional retail to sort of come in around us,” Tillett said. “We’re really hoping that this building sets the tone for downtown and everybody else starts to follow and we are starting to see that a little bit.”
Just steps away from the new city hall are businesses like KC Salon and Spa. These business owners welcome this new development.
As a salon owner, Casey Childress knows change well. She’s had 22 years of transformations right at her fingertips.
She moved to this space six years ago and she’s happy about her new neighbor.
“The value I think is Largo definitely really needs some options for shopping and restaurants will bring a lot of new people and younger families,” said Childress.
While it’s just the beginning, city hall is built to serve the future.
The new city hall will open May 19 at 8 a.m. with building, permitting and planning services available.
The ceremonial ribbon-cutting will be held on June 2 at 5 p.m.