Bowie Community Gets A Look Inside New City Hall

With its soaring windows and sunlit two-story atrium lobby, Bowie’s new City Hall earned high marks from visitors who toured the building after Saturday morning’s ribbon cutting ceremony.

“Beautiful,” said Long Ridge resident Trish Reimer. “It’s so light and airy. Nice views, a lot of sunlight. I think this building will stand the test of time.”

A three-tiered mobile sculpture entitled “Triple Crown” hangs in the rear corner of the lobby, one of two major art pieces commissioned by the city.

Weighing more than 500 pounds, the mobile represents the Black-Eyed Susan—the state flower—and Bowie’s thoroughbred horseracing past. The Belair Stable was home to Triple Crown winners Gallant Fox and Omaha.

The other art piece, a large sundial, made of bronze and glass, is outside the building’s main entrance.  

With a $22.6 million price tag, the new City Hall is the city’s largest capital project to date.

In his opening remarks Saturday, Mayor G. Frederick Robinson said Bowie has come a long way from the community’s early days when meetings were conducted in Old Bowie basements and later in the Belair Mansion.

“We’ve been on a journey that brought us here. Now we open a brand new page in the city’s history,” Robinson told the crowd, which included County Executive Rushern Baker, County Council Chairwoman Ingrid Turner, and a host of state and local elected officials, past and present.

Ground was broken on the project in September 2009 after the city outgrew the former Foxhill Elementary building, which had housed the city’s government since 1978.

The creation of the Bowie Police Department in 2006 compelled the city to consider the construction of the new building.

Space was at such a premium, the police department was housed in temporary trailers behind the , a sharp contrast from the state-of-the art space it now inhabits.

Now the Police Department occupies a majority of the lower floor of the new building. There are interview rooms, a roll call room as well as space for evidence storage and a secure entrance.

A fitness center with adjacent locker rooms is available for officers and city employees to use.

The City Manager’s office, the Planning Department and the Information Technology offices are on the upper floor.

The cost of the project came in under budget thanks to the city's AAA bond rating and the economic downturn, which made the bidding process more competitive and brought down construction costs by $10 million.

The building includes such environmentally-friendly features as a green roof, with plants partially covering the surface to absorb runoff and heat, and an energy-efficient heating and cooling system. The building is also designed to maximize the use of natural light.

The city has also applied for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver Certification, part of a rating system developed by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) to "recognize projects that implement strategies for better environmental and health performance."

At nearly 80,000 square feet, the new facility was built with the city's future in mind, officials said.

Once a quiet bedroom community, Bowie, with more than 55,000 residents, is the largest municipality in the county and the fifth largest in the state.  

“I think, eventually, Bowie’s population will be 75-100,000,” said former Mayor Richard Logue. “I give the City Council credit not only for the wisdom, but the courage to do this and to do it so well.”