Suncheon sheds authoritarian image with new city hall

Move-in targeted for October after completion

The new Suncheon city hall rising in the city's original downtown area is taking shape.

The city announced Monday that the new city hall construction project has reached an overall completion rate of 95 percent, with work now focused on finishing touches ahead of a targeted October move-in.

Mayor Son Hun-mo visited the construction site in Jangcheon-dong on Saturday to personally inspect key issues and review the status of remaining work and move-in preparations.

The project, funded at 216.5 billion won ($156 million), covers a site area of approximately 26,000 square meters and a total floor area of about 47,000 square meters. The complex comprises six buildings in total — four arranged in a cross formation with one below-ground floor and up to six above-ground floors, along with a separate assembly building and a "Culture Station" facility funded through a national infrastructure grant program.

The city plans to complete test runs and statutory inspections of electrical, mechanical, fire safety and communications systems by September, then move departments in sequentially from mid-October through November.

Departments that had been renting space in nearby buildings due to a shortage of office space at the current city hall will also move into the new main building once it is completed.

Among them are the Ecological Environment Bureau, currently housed in the Hanwha Life building next to the Suncheon bus terminal; the Urban Design Bureau, located in the CBS broadcasting building; and some divisions of the Agricultural Technology Center.

However, the Cultural Health Center building near Suncheon National University, the Animal Resources Division, the Agricultural Technology Center and the Urban Space Regeneration Division will remain in their existing rented buildings.

To ease the chronic parking shortage around city hall, the new complex will offer a total of 750 parking spaces — including those in the Culture Station building connected to the main city hall — improving convenience for residents.

Once all departments have moved in by year's end, the existing city hall building will be demolished. A follow-up project will create a central park with green lawns and an underground parking lot on the site, with the entire project expected to wrap up around October next year.

A distinctive feature of the new Suncheon city hall is its green exterior — a design choice that emerged from a citizen participation design committee and a public ideas competition held during the design competition phase in 2020.

"Once the landscaping, gardens and public spaces are complete, the building's green facade will blend naturally with the surrounding greenery, creating an open city hall that anyone can enjoy comfortably," an official from the city's new city hall construction division said.