WINDSOR – The Windsor Town Hall has stood the test of time.

And it likely will continue to.

At the January 8 meeting of the Windsor Board of Commissioners, a decision was made to look into the possible renovation of the current structure. That process will begin by the hiring of an architect to look at the space inside the facility and decide how best to utilize that room.

Windsor Mayor Pro-Tempore Hoyt Cooper made a presentation about the project at the meeting and asked for the blessing of the board to proceed.

“Mayor (Jimmy) Hoggard, (Town Administrator) Allen Castelloe and myself recently met in regards to remodeling town hall,” Cooper said. “As you can look around and see, there hasn’t been much done to this building in a while.

“If you walk in the front door to do business here, it is not an attractive place,” Cooper added. “The building is in good shape, but we aren’t utilizing the space as effectively as we should.”

The Mayor Pro-Tem said there were other issues with the building, including the need for work on the mayor’s office, wiring for computers and other problems.

“It’s not right that you have to walk through Allen’s office and disturb his work to get to the mayor,” Cooper said.

“We have the room, we just don’t know how to best use it,” Mayor Hoggard added.

Cooper said there were towns in the surrounding area that have been able to secure grants to help remodel their town hall and that he believed Windsor should follow their example.

“We can’t go after anything until we have an architect come in and help us learn how to best use the space we have,” Cooper added.

Mayor Hoggard said towns had definitely been able to get energy efficient grants that helped make improvements to assist with the costs of maintaining town hall.

Commissioner Collins Cooper asked if the town could look at seeking energy efficient grants for all buildings owned by the town and Mayor Hoggard said he thought that was a good idea.

The mayor then received consensus from the board to move forward with hiring an architect to look at the building and make suggestions and to proceed with seeking grants to fund the project.

In other business, the board:

* decided to add a part-time staff person to Castelloe’s staff;

* heard an update from Commissioner David Overton concerning the use of generators for cutting costs during peak electricity demands;

* agreed to accept the donation of the former Purple Lizard building on Granville Street;

* received an update on water infiltration into the sewer system; and

* listened to an update from Commissioner Bob Brown concerning financial matters, including the possibility of paying off a loan early to save the town money.