Anniston looking a new home for city hall

The city of Anniston is discussing the possibility of purchasing and restoring Watermark Tower on Noble street to turn it into a new City Hall.  According to City Manager Brian Johnson the Anniston City Council is interested in purchasing the 11-story, historic Noble Street building after hearing a property assessment report of it during its Monday work session. Johnson said the city needs to move not just to leave a deteriorating City Hall, but to make space for a possible new federal courthouse. In addition, Johnson said that repurposing Watermark Tower and putting it to good use could help in the city's larger plans to revitalize downtown.  Representatives from Birmingham-based Harbert Realty Services, a real estate consulting firm, presented the property assessment report — estimating that bringing Watermark Tower up to code would cost between $4.5 million and $5.5 million. The city hired the firm six months ago to examine the building.  According to a five-year project plan by the U.S. General Services Administration, which supervises new courthouse construction, $41 million has been allocated for design and construction work for a federal courthouse in Anniston in fiscal year 2017. Where the courthouse will be built, however, is still undecided. The city has been mulling possibly donating the City Hall property to the federal government, which could speed up the process.