Eighty years ago this month, the citizens of Pottsville voted to allow the city to borrow money and build “Pottsville City Hall.”
This week, city officials talked about the history of that landmark, which stands at 401 N. Centre St., the time line of events regarding its development and the bond issue the city council is planning to approve to embark on improvements to the building, including a new roof.
“We’re in the process of entering into a new bond issue to make improvements to City Hall. That will include a new roof. Perhaps when that work is done, the city will hold an event to recognize the building’s history,” City Administrator Thomas A. Palamar said Wednesday.
The archives of The Republican-Herald provided insights into the events which led up to the construction of City Hall at 401 N. Centre St. So did hand written meeting minutes from 1936 and the original deed to the property which were uncovered Wednesday by City Clerk Lisa M. Kral.
History
Pottsville was incorporated as a borough on Feb. 19, 1828. The first city charter passed on Nov. 8, 1910, but it was not officially recognized by the council until Nov. 18 1913, according to the “Joseph H. Zerbey History of Pottsville and Schuylkill County,” published in 1936.
The building at 14 N. Third St., Pottsville, was the city hall for many years.
“From 1833-1888, this building housed Pottsville’s first fire company, Humane Fire Company No. 1. In 1889, Pottsville’s first city hall and police lockup made their home here until 1937,” according to a historical plaque on its front door.
In 1930, the city’s population was 24,300, according to Palamar.
In May 1935, the city council expressed interest in building at Third and West Norwegian streets.
“...The city officials were also considering Centre and Minersville St. on the northwest corner as a location for the new municipal hall,” according to the May 10, 1935 edition of the newspaper.
On Dec. 30, 1935, the council said the city should take a federal loan of $101,000 with a 4 percent interest rate to build a new city hall.
“As a matter of fact the city could float such a loan at a much lower rate of interest. The resolution carries with it the proviso that the entire matter of financing the city hall project be placed before the voters in due time to ascertain whether it is their will the municipality shall go to this expense,” according to the Dec. 31, 1935 edition of the newspaper.
On Jan. 14, the council held the first reading of an ordinance which set up the election on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 1936, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., according to the Jan. 15, 1936 edition of the newspaper.
That Saturday, Jan. 18, 1936, the council held a special meeting to pass that ordinance, according to the Jan. 18, 1936 edition of the newspaper.
Kral found the minutes of that meeting in a leather-bound book, “MINUTES, October, 11th, 1932 to December 31st, 1936.” It’s the “POTTSVILLE RECORD, No. 6,” according to printing on the spine.
The ordinance approved on “Jan’y 18/1936” is on page 461. They were handwritten by the city clerk at the time, G.A. Berner.
Vote
On Tuesday, Feb. 25, 1936, 2,727 Pottsville voters went to the polls. Of those, 1,969 voted in favor of the new city hall project, and 758 voted against it, according to the Feb. 26, 1936 edition of the newspaper.
“In only one ward did the voters turn down the proposition. This was the Sixth Ward, comprising the Fishbach and Jalappa districts, where an organized effort upon the part of the Democrats defeated the issue by 26 votes,” according to the Feb. 26, 1936 edition of the newspaper.
“Reports from various parts of the town received Tuesday at City Hall had it that Democrats were starting to work against the issue. Work was immediately started late Tuesday afternoon by Republicans, with a fleet of automobiles being acquired to bring in voters,” according to that article.
According to a plaque in the lobby of City Hall, city officials who worked on the city hall project included: Mayor Claude A. Lord; council members Aaron Moore, Harry Marks, James A. Lynaugh and Burt J. Hasenauer; the city controller, Harry K. Portz; the city treasurer, Frank H. Womer; the city solicitor, R. A. Freiler; the city engineer, George H. Steidel; the city clerk, Berner; architects, D.H. Grootenboer and Philip G. Knobloch; the general contractor, F. J. Cuppels; the heating contractor, W.H. Leidich; the plumbing contractor, H.H. Bicht; and the electrical contractor, Sheets & Daddow.
City officials estimated the building project would cost $183,000, with the Progress Works Administration pledging 45 percent, according to the March 9, 1936 edition of the newspaper.
On Tuesday, March 10, 1936, the city council decided to put the new City Hall on the northwest corner of Centre Street and Minersville Street, according to that night’s edition of the newspaper.
“The site has dimensions 120 by 120 feet. There will be a 15-foot drive about the north and south sides of the premises. In the rear, there will be enough ground left, after the new City Hall is erected, for parking space, afforded by an area of 40 by 120 feet. Topographical conditions of the site are that the premises are high and dry. There will be no expense beneath ground, save for the excavations and construction of foundations. The building will front on Centre St. The site provides abundant ground to furnish the dimensions 87 by 78 feet, which the government requires for the boundaries of the new building in order to qualify for the $82,000 cash grant, which, with the $101,000 from the city’s special loan, will establish a fund of $183,000, meeting conditions to make possible the federal donations of 45 percent of the whole investment involving both site and building,” according to the March 10, 1936 edition.
“The new building will be placed five feet above the level of Centre St. It will be of three stories, each being 12 feet in height,” according to the March 10, 1936 edition.
According to the deed on file in the city clerk’s office, the city officially became the owner of the property on July 21, 1936. The city bought it from the Sailor Planing Mill and Lumber Co., for $40,000. Representing the company in the transaction were its president, Conrad Hock, and its treasurer, Robert C. Hock, according to the deed.
The site is part of the history of D.G. Yuengling & Son, according to Peter Yasenchak Ph.D, a local historian.
In 1829, David G. Yuengling established the Eagle Brewery on Centre Street in Pottsville. It burned down in 1831 and a new brewery, D.G. Yuengling & Son, was established at Fifth and Mahantongo streets.
“The Eagle Brewery was on that site, where City Hall now stands,” Yasenchak said Thursday.
On Oct. 16, 1936, the city laid the cornerstone for the City Hall with a ceremony which included a performance by the Third Brigade Band and speeches by local officials, including the honorable Harry O. Bechtel, who was a county judge.
“Reminiscing about the old City Hall, he expressed satisfaction that council saw its way clear to seek larger quarters, most urgently needed, expressed in the construction of a building that will be suitable for the greater community of the future. He said he regarded the move, that made possible realization of the new municipal building, the greatest since the city was established,” according to the Oct. 17, 1936 edition of the newspaper.
On the afternoon of May 27, 1937, “Pottsville $200,000 City Hall” was dedicated, according to that evening’s edition of the newspaper.
New bond issue
One of the ways the city council will be observing these watermarks in the history of the City Hall is with a new bond issue.
The city could borrow more than $1.8 million as part of a bond issue this year to improve the fire department, the street department and the City Hall, Palamar said Wednesday.
Proposed improvements to City Hall and the estimated costs of those improvements include: wall repair, $175,000; parking area, $10,000; roof, $100,000; police area upgrade, $150,000; elevator, $175,000; security, $8,500, Palamar said.