Perry celebrates new city hall

PERRY, Ga. — A building with centuries of history got a facelift recently, and the community was invited to celebrate with the city of Perry.

On Friday, city leadership and staff along with locals in government and their families, gathered at the new city hall to celebrate with a ribbon cutting.

Perry’s updated building, now located downtown, will now serve as the venue for city council meetings, municipal court, as well as multiple departments in the city, such as Economic Development, the Main Street Program, City Clerk, and the Perry Welcome Center.

At the celebration, multiple movers and shakers in the community spoke on the journey so far and the impact the building will make in the community.

Commissioner Dan Perdue spoke first, thankful that a historic building was revitalized.

“I am so happy that we opted not to tear down a building in Houston County, that we opted to restore a building and put money into bringing a building back to some of its former glory. This facility has been well used and well loved over the years and I am confident now that the city of Perry is using it. It will continue to be well used,” Perdue said.

Thrilled to see the revived building, Perdue spoke on collaboration within the county.

“I think y’all have done a tremendous job restoring this building, preparing for many years of future needs. And so I want to celebrate the job that Perry has done getting this building ready to use and I want to celebrate the cooperation that existed in making that transition smooth and easy for every one,” Perdue said.

Next up, former Houston County Commissioner Tommy Stalnaker spoke to those attending. He chalked the building’s reopening to three concepts: cooperation, compromise and partnerships.

Speaking directly to Mayor Randall Walker, Stalnaker said the new building would be a bright spot in the city’s legacy.

“This is a tribute to you, and I think you will have a lot of pride in it. You’ve put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears in it. And I think we will look back years from now and this will be one of your proudest moments, this building,” Stalnaker said.

Municipal Court Chief Judge James Freeman spoke next, excited to use the facility and grateful to his staff for their work in the restoration. For Freeman, working in the building comes full circle.

“I was fortunate when I was a young law student at Mercer to come down and appear in front of Judge Lukemire and Judge Nunn when this was the superior court, so to be able to come back and be the judge in the same courtroom is quite an honor to me,” Freeman said.

Finally, Mayor Walker spoke, explaining some of the history of the building and looking towards the future.

“I’m extremely proud tonight that we can come into this and look at what this staff has done to make our dream come true on this location, because this building will be in service, I would imagine the way they have done it, for another 50 to 75 years and it is a beautiful building and our staff is really enjoying it,” Walker said.

In turn, the beautiful building allows the city to better serve the community, according to Walker.

“We do this because the citizens of Houston County allow us to do this. This is their house. It’s not my house. It’s not the council’s house, but it is the citizens of Perry and the citizens of Houston County who are going to enjoy this in the future and we’re proud to offer that to them,” Walker said.

The new city hall is located at 808 Carroll Street.

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