{"id":79591,"date":"2025-12-11T10:20:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T10:20:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/79591\/"},"modified":"2025-12-11T10:20:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T10:20:07","slug":"angry-and-disgusted-by-new-city-hall-design-cost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/79591\/","title":{"rendered":"Angry and disgusted by new City Hall design, cost"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Editor\u2019s Note: The Sun Sentinel invited our readers<\/a> to voice their views on the proposed new Fort Lauderdale City Hall. The readers who responded strongly oppose the preliminary design and estimated cost of $344 million. We invited Mayor Dean Trantalis to respond to his own constituents\u2019 criticism, including a lack of transparency in the posting of renderings online. He did not respond. We invite readers to send their opinions to letters@sunsentinel.com<\/a>, and we will publish more letters soon.)<\/p>\n

The new Fort Lauderdale City Hall looks like they\u2019re trying to recreate the Taj Mahal.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s totally out of context. It\u2019s ugly, the design is out of proportion. It\u2019s inappropriate for our city \u2014 except for the part that resembles a sinking ship.<\/p>\n

I saw no mention of any green initiatives, and I am doubtful it can get a LEED certificate<\/a>. Surprisingly, for a city that says it wants to plant 246,000 trees, the rendering shows they managed to remove every single shade tree on the swale next to the property.<\/p>\n

They apparently wanted to make sure no mature trees were anywhere nearby.<\/p>\n

Pat Roth, Fort Lauderdale<\/p>\n

I love Fort Lauderdale. I consider it my home.<\/p>\n

A city hall is a government building. It\u2019s supposed to be functional, resilient and sturdy. It shouldn\u2019t break the budget.<\/p>\n

I agree with Vice Mayor John Herbst that the P3 process is not appropriate for this project. The city should have listed specifications, and contractors should have competitively bid for the project. Instead, we seem to have contractors running the show and telling the city how much taxpayer money they want, and the majority of commissioners seem willing to hand it over.<\/p>\n

\"KathrynKathryn Summer lived in Fort Lauderdale for 37 years and is a member of the civic group Leadership Broward.<\/p>\n

This city has trouble with construction projects. A new fire station developed mold problems, a public parking lot\u2019s exterior lighting feature failed and will require $3 million to replace. A new police headquarters with a cracked roof will cost $50 million more, all while infrastructure continues to fail as broken sewer lines pour waste into our waterways. Estimates are that Fortify Lauderdale (the city\u2019s infrastructure resiliency program) is 10-15 years from completion.<\/p>\n

The public should have had more time to review and comment on this extremely hot topic. I\u2019d like to see the commission address flooding and infrastructure with the same fervor they have for dumping taxpayer money into projects like City Hall, the Swimming Hall of Fame and re-landscaping Las Olas. Yes, we need a city hall. We don\u2019t need a $300+ million Taj Majal.<\/p>\n

Kathryn Summer,\u00a0Lauderdale-By-The-Sea<\/p>\n

The writer came to Fort Lauderdale in 1957 and was a permanent city resident for 37 years.<\/p>\n

I think the new City Hall design is awful.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s wasteful, and the money would be better spent in so many ways. Infrastructure, affordable housing \u2014 anything but that ugly, ostentatious design. Why don\u2019t the mayor and commissioners listen to the outcry of residents, from overdevelopment to ignoring residents\u2019 needs? Please stop hurting our city.<\/p>\n

Susan Lazarus, Fort Lauderdale<\/p>\n

As a student of architecture and design, I have never seen a more unsuitable design than the one presented to our city commission.<\/p>\n

I find it despicable. I respect our commissioners greatly, but must ask: Do they have any experience judging architecture?<\/p>\n

\"Joanne<\/p>\n

This building will long outlast our current community and, I believe, we should strive to make this design live beyond our lifetimes. I totally agree with Commissioner John Herbst and I don\u2019t see it as a serious civic building.<\/p>\n

What are we saying with this design? To me, it looks like the last few minutes of the Titanic sinking.<\/p>\n

I believe a cityscape should reflect its community, and at least nod to other structures around it. Take for example, the new county office building.\u00a0 It sits in the same sight line as the old jail, but it conforms beautifully. Well done.<\/p>\n

I dislike the design immensely. For the love of and pride for my city, I would hate to see my tax dollars go to its construction.<\/p>\n

We can do so much better!<\/p>\n

Joanne M. Snead, Fort Lauderdale<\/p>\n

It is a disgusting show of bad taste and an unmitigated waste of hard-earned tax dollars. At the very least, they could have put the design out to the citizens for input. I guess their only consideration was erecting a monument to their time in office.<\/p>\n

In my view, it merely shows that their time in office should be cut short as soon as possible so we can replace them with people who have good taste in their decision-making and an honest desire to spend the people\u2019s money wisely, as we all must do in these difficult times.<\/p>\n

Maureen Solomon, Fort Lauderdale<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an ugly anachronistic disaster.<\/p>\n

Any new construction should include renewable electricity generation. Where are the solar panels or wind turbines? Do the windows open? Will those windows attract migrating birds that fly into them and are killed? Will it generate glare? Does it add to a pedestrian lifestyle?<\/p>\n

Isobel Sturgeon, Fort Lauderdale<\/p>\n

Who really thinks it looks like the bow of the ship in a vertical position? Maybe to a drunken sailor with billions of tax dollars to spend.<\/p>\n

To me, it\u2019s an unimaginative architect\u2019s vision of a cool, futuristic building.<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s nice to have a building with design flair, this deviates too far to be taken seriously, and it\u2019s way too expensive.<\/p>\n

The Broward County Courthouse, the new Fort Lauderdale headquarters and now Fort Lauderdale City Hall were all built, or will be built, on incredibly valuable downtown land that could have been sold to developers to offset their cost.<\/p>\n

These buildings should be built away from the downtown core on more affordable property.<\/p>\n

George Mulhorn, Fort Lauderdale<\/p>\n

I hate it! And yes, it looks like a vagina \u2014 or a sinking ship!<\/p>\n

Jennifer Sakaris, Fort Lauderdale<\/p>\n

I enthusiastically support the proposed design of Fort Lauderdale\u2019s new City Hall.<\/p>\n

While I understand this bold, boat-hull-inspired structure has sparked debate, I believe it represents exactly the kind of forward-thinking vision our city needs.<\/p>\n

Fort Lauderdale has long branded itself as the yachting capital of the world, and this design celebrates that identity in a meaningful way. Rather than settling for another forgettable glass box, our city has the opportunity to create a true landmark that reflects our maritime heritage and coastal character.<\/p>\n

Iconic architecture has the power to define a city\u2019s skyline and identity for generations.<\/p>\n

Commissioner John Herbst\u2019s concerns about cost and process are worth noting, but we should remember that great civic buildings are investments in our city\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

If this new structure can serve us well into the next century while making a bold architectural statement, the investment is justified.<\/p>\n

Yes, the design is unconventional. That\u2019s precisely what makes it exciting. Cities that embrace distinctive architecture, from Milwaukee\u2019s art museum to Sydney\u2019s opera house, create landmarks that residents grow to cherish and that attract visitors and new residents alike. I urge my fellow residents to embrace this opportunity for something truly special, rather than settling for the safe and ordinary.<\/p>\n

Dr. Bret M. Ribotsky, Fort Lauderdale<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a welcoming and distinctive work of art. I love it!<\/p>\n

Richie Baptista, Fort Lauderdale<\/p>\n

I love it. It\u2019s futuristic, eye-catching, bold. Not all that radical. We\u2019re in 2025, not the 1900s.<\/p>\n

Tomas L. Perez, Fort Lauderdale<\/p>\n

As a Sun Sentinel subscriber and an old man of 85, I want you to know that I love, love, love it. It needs to happen. I\u2019m tired of the same old brutalist designs for government buildings.<\/p>\n

Geoffrey Calderone, Fort Lauderdale<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a waste of my tax dollars. A functional building can be built for much less. The things that need to be focused on are infrastructure and open space. Stop the sewage leaks and stop the building.<\/p>\n

Traffic is out of control even before all the new construction from Searstown to Galleria Mall is completed. Do the mayor and commissioners actually drive on these roads?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been a Fort Lauderdale resident since 1973 and have seen many negative changes. I hope the powers-that-be rethink this foolish waste of tax dollars.<\/p>\n

Carol Pundai, Fort Lauderdale<\/p>\n

I do not think it\u2019s attractive or appropriate. It should be a functional city government building, built at a reasonable price, since taxpayers are paying. I care more about service than looks. The boat design is trying too hard to be something the city is not interested in becoming.<\/p>\n

Can we please see what the other options are?<\/p>\n

Michelle Nassar, Fort Lauderdale<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no reason for such extravagance. My main concern is whether they are using all of a requested $88 million FEMA grant<\/a> to fund this building.<\/p>\n

I understand that City Hall suffered flood damage. But so did we, residents of the River Oaks and Edgewood neighborhoods. FEMA didn\u2019t give people squat in relief dollars, and most of us didn\u2019t have flood insurance because we\u2019re not in a flood zone. Are we going to be victimized again?<\/p>\n

Shirlee Sandler, Fort Lauderdale<\/p>\n

The four City Hall renderings and their costs were on the city website since August, but were difficult to find.<\/p>\n

Commissioner Herbst acknowledged there was no specific effort to present them to the public for input until the Dec. 2 conference meeting.<\/p>\n

On that date, only three residents spoke (all were against the design, cost and lack of taxpayer input). It was obvious, very few knew of the options until the Sun Sentinel published the design and its costs, likely due to the ambiguity of where to find the renderings.<\/p>\n

The mayor confirmed they were shown to civic association presidents, but there was no robust taxpayer input from HOA presidents, many of whom were not in attendance. In short, public outreach was practically nonexistent.<\/p>\n

This is why residents responded in droves when they saw the selected top design and its cost. About 200 people commented negatively on Next Door. I forwarded those comments to commissioners to demonstrate how few people had any idea of these four choices, or that there were four choices.<\/p>\n

The city commission now knows that its choice and its cost are unacceptable to many. It\u2019s time for the commission to go back and make a robust effort to obtain public input on all four contenders.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not too late \u2014 and it\u2019s the right thing to do.<\/p>\n

Nancy Thomas, Fort Lauderdale<\/p>\n

Please submit a letter to the editor by email to\u00a0letterstotheeditor@sunsentinel.com<\/a> or fill out the online form below. Letters may be up to 200 words and must be signed with your email address, city of residence and daytime phone number for verification. Letters will be edited for clarity and length.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Editor\u2019s Note: The Sun Sentinel invited our readers to voice their views on the proposed new Fort Lauderdale…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":79592,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[249,251,250,114,1205,482],"class_list":{"0":"post-79591","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-lauderdale","8":"tag-fort-lauderdale","9":"tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","10":"tag-fort-lauderdale-news","11":"tag-latest-headlines","12":"tag-letters-to-the-editor","13":"tag-opinion"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}