City Council Approves Paying Property Taxes Owed by Standard Times on Abandoned Building

SAN ANGELO – San Angelo City Council members Tuesday approved a payment of over $28,000 in property taxes owed by the San Angelo Standard Times on the building that used to house the newspaper as part of the project to renovate the storied downtown building into usable space for city offices.  

The property tax payment was part of a $235,000 request to fund the first phase of a plan to design renovations to the building.  

In August 2021, the City of San Angelo purchased the old Standard Times Building located at 34 W. Harris Street. The building was bought with the intention of transitioning it for use primarily by Public Works and Utility Billing. Subsequently, the City published a Request for Qualifications for Architectural Services for the conceptual planning and architectural design services to redesign the existing building to meet the functional needs of these departments.

San Angelo Public Works Director Shane Kelton made the request as part of a plan to engage KFW Architects to design the first phase of the master plan.  In his presentation, Kelton called the building, "quite dated," and that the mechanical footprint of the building would have to be repaired and replaced in order for the building to be usable.  

Kelton said the plan includes moving the Public Works Department, the Fire Marshal's office and the Communications Department into the building initially with more space for other departments in future phases.  

Kelton says the first phase is expected to be completed in eight to twelve weeks when he will return to council and present phase II.  

The City Council voted unanimously to approve the expenditure.