A police and fire honor guard presided over the flag-raising ceremony at the city hall dedication on Monday. Courtesy of City of Kannapolis

Dec. 18. Hundreds of people attended a ceremony Monday to dedicate the new Kannapolis City Hall and Police Headquarters. The building is located at 401 Laureate Way.

The ceremony featured a formal flag-raising ceremony with a police and fire honor guard. The United States, North Carolina and city flags were raised while Drew Barkley played “God Bless America” on the bagpipes and Officer Cory Kluttz played the national anthem on his trumpet.

Mayor Darrell Hinnant, City Manager Mike Legg and Police Chief Woody Chavis all spoke at the ceremony.

“Today marks a new goal, a new aspiration and a new endeavor.  While this new building has been completed and the citizens of Kannapolis own it, it is one milestone to celebrate–just one of many that must follow as we work to rebuild our City on the Hill,” said Hinnant.

The City of Kannapolis has never had its own city hall facility.  The new building will house police, planning, community development, customer service, finance, administration, human resources, technology, fire administration, legal, general services, communications and parks and recreation. More than 160 employees will work in the building.

Consolidating services from seven different locations will improve efficiency, said City Manager Mike Legg.  “Perhaps more importantly, it will provide a much easier way for citizens, visitors and outside investors in our community to receive services,” he said.

“I cannot impress upon you enough the major impact this building will have on our employees and officers,” said Police Chief Woody Chavis. “To us, this building is more than just brick and steel.  It will be our home.”

With more than 100,000 square feet, the three-story building is constructed in classic Georgian style. The brick structure has large windows, columns, a portico and traditional cornice embellishments.  The building was designed by Creech and Associates and constructed by Rodgers Builders.

The building also has a 5,300-square foot meeting space. Named The Laureate Center, the space can accommodate 450 people for classroom-style meetings and 260 people for banquets.  It can be also be subdivided into three rooms.

Some fun facts about the building:

• 8,900 tons of concrete
• 987 tons of structural steel
• 320,500 bricks
• 600 tons of cast stone
• 180 tons of metal stud framing
• 11,000 sheets of gypsum board
• 240 windows
• 31,000 feet of plumbing and HVAC piping
• 475,000 feet of electrical wiring
• 1,825 tons of asphalt
• 10,450 tons of imported soil and stone