ARUNDEL — The design and construction of the proposed new Arundel Municipal Facility was discussed at a special Board of Selectmen’s meeting in December and after interviewing five different firms, the Town Municipal Building Committee has chosen the Port City Architecture Team of Portland to work on the project.

The company was chosen based on their interview presentation, understanding of small communities’ characteristics and extensive municipal building experience.

According to Port City Architecture’s principal architect and spokeswoman, Lita Semrau, the company has been working with the town to craft a contract. It will work with the Town Municipal Building Committee and Board of Selectmen while accepting full responsibility for the total project.

The land for the project was purchased in 2017 for $200,000 to support a new Town Hall and other future municipal facilities. The purchase of a parcel of land on Limerick Road was made by the Town of Arundel who partnered with the Arundel Conservation Trust.

The Arundel Municipal Committee provided the Port City Architectural Firm with a draft of what the committee has in mind for the new facility on the purchased land.

Following many meetings, the committee, with the expertise of Arundel citizen and committee member, Steve Dalzell, produced the basic concept of what the group would like to see as the new facility.

He said the committee would like the design of the new municipal facility to represent the rural aspect of the chosen location and the agricultural heritage of Arundel. The new facility will also contain voting space, meeting space and functional office space for all town departments.

Semrau said she was impressed with the design work of the building committee so far.

Though some changes in the design are expected, Dalzell said that the committee wants to maintain their suggested basic design.

The architect will make the sure the final design is code compliant and will look for cost saving measures and structural streamlining, Semrau said.

Port City Architecture will begin the process of identifying the construction challenges, looking at the needs of the staff and community and establishing a proposed budget. As the project proceeds public hearings, community input and more extensive site and design research are just a few of the expected steps for the committee and architects.

The Arundel town website will continue to post future meetings of the Town Municipal Building Committee, as well as news about the construction.

No decisions have been made about what will become of the existing Arundel Town Office, which is old and in need of expensive updates and repairs.

Arundel selectmen will continue to listen to ideas from all interested parties and welcome residents’ input and suggestions before granting approval for any construction.

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