What Is Happening With The Old Amarillo City Hall? We Have Answers.

A couple of months ago, Amarillo opened up a new city hall building as they felt it was time for an update. That left a big vacant building that the city wasn't 100% sure what to do with.

It got used as a temporary shelter during the big snowstorm we received during the winter when it dumped 8-9 inches of snow on us and temps were in the single digits. The building housed over 140 people and some pets so they could stay warm.

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Well, the city loved the idea of being able to utilize the building for something like that, so they've now decided to make it permanent.

The building will be used as a shelter during those extreme weather events in Amarillo, whether it be wintery weather or extreme heat. COA Director of Community Development Jason Riddlespurger told KAMR 4:

“This is really a unique opportunity and a great idea to help the unhoused in Amarillo when the weather is at its worst.”

Couldn't agree more with him. He talked about the fact that the building was three stories so there was more than enough room to house everyone, not to mention having restrooms and the ability to provide food serving areas made it the perfect place for something like this.

Now, the building in its current form isn't perfectly ideal for the plan, so they will be doing a bit of repurposing to make it more amenable to what they want the old city hall to be. There is no word as to when it'll be ready to roll, but I'm sure it'll be before those summer temps set in.