CRYSTAL RIVER, Fla. — The storm surge from Hurricane Idalia flooded City Hall. More than a month after the storm, the building is vacant, and the entire city staff works at temporary offices across the city.
Nearly a foot of water and raw sewage filled Crystal River City Hall. According to Mayor Joe Meek, the cost of cleanup and remediation was more than $200K; that doesn't even include renovations.
"Not including contents, we'd be looking at close to a half million dollars of just putting it back then contents only for the possibility for it to happen again tomorrow," Meek said.
Meek gave ABC Action News reporter Michael Paluska a tour of the building. The drywall, up to about 4 feet, was cut out, all the floors ripped out, and the server room flooded with all their electronics. Meek said investing more taxpayer money into city hall is a mistake.
"We can clean it all up, move back in here, and it can flood tomorrow, next week, next year. And it's not a question of if it's going to happen, it's when," Meek said. "And, so the responsible thing, from a taxpayer standpoint, is not to continue to put funds in a building that's just going to get flooded out. And I think this is an opportunity for the city to set an example. We want to be the poster child. We want to show how, again, you can live in a coastal community, you can operate your business in a coastal community, and there are things you can do to mitigate and protect yourself from flooding. And we want to set that example."
Meek said they've been looking into building a new city hall for years, working to receive funds for the project even before the storm hit.
"This last legislative cycle, we received those funds, and we almost have close to $1.5 million that Governor DeSantis signed for us that we have right now for the design, planning, permitting, and also the demolition of this structure."
Businesses around the historic downtown also flooded. They hope to make up for months of lost income with their 36th Crystal River Scarecrow Fest this weekend.
"A pumpkin patch, live music, petting zoo, beer and wine. It's a lovely family Fall Festival in downtown Crystal River," Leslie Bollin, Community Engagement Director for Crystal River, said. "It's even more important this year because our businesses lost about a month of revenue. So for us to be able to get them into the downtown, spend money in the stores as well as our of our local vendors that will be there as well."
The Three Sisters Springs Springs Center was also connected to city hall. They found a new location for their facility and will be up and running at 100% for the start of the manatee season on Nov. 15.
