Demolition begins
Photo via Amarillo Pioneer Staff

The City of Amarillo began demolition of the Sinclair's Furniture building this morning. The demolition a part of the city's controversial ongoing efforts to turn the old Amarillo Hardware building into a new city hall.

Speaking to reporters, Ginger Nelson discussed issues with the current City Hall and touted the benefits of the planned replacement. In response to a question from the Pioneer about the city having repeatedly waited until projects reached a crisis point before taking action, the major said that when your car needs it, you "get an oil change." She further derided unnamed critics supposedly wanting "no-cost solutions" as being unrealistic.

Following up, the Pioneer asked why the city seems to have waited until it needed a new metaphorical car instead of getting the oil change. At this point, the mayor admitted that the city does indeed need to be better at looking at the future and anticipating problems with city infrastructure.

The City of Amarillo has run into numerous roadblocks on it's path to replace City Hall. In 2020, voters rejected the civic center focused Proposition A, which would have included demolishing the existing city hall building and replacing it with a new city park and outdoor event venue. Last summer, the city began a long process of attempting to use certificates of obligation to fund replacing city hall, which the city claims has significant structural problems. This was met with community backlash, a petition attempting to force the project to a public election, and a lawsuit halting the project.

The city approved funding for demolishing three buildings the city had previously purchased near the proposed new city hall in April, with Cole Stanley being the only member of City Council to vote against the move.

The City plans to use the warehouses being demolished as space for a new parking lot. According to officials, the city hopes to have the new City Hall open for business next November.