T-R photo by Stephanie Bowers — The 24 N. Center St. entrance of City Hall is now open to the public.

Marshalltown’s City Hall is open to the public again after being closed for three months because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In March, all city buildings were closed to the public along with restrictions to help stop the spread of the Coronavirus. 

“With the Governor beginning to lift restrictions, we knew we would need to get our doors back open at some point,” said Jessica Kinser, City Administrator.

The building’s reopening comes with some changes. People will only be able to enter at the 24 N. Center St. entrance and the 10 W. State St. entrance. The entrance at 36 N. Center St. is no longer open.

People are advised to wear masks while entering the building. There will be hand sanitizer present for people at entrances as well. 

T-R photo by Lana Bradstream — City Hall was recently opened to the general public. A phone with a list of numbers of Marshalltown city employees is in the lobby of City Hall. People need to use the phone to gain access to whoever they want to visit.

A phone will be located for people to contact the department or staff member they wish to connect with. Anyone allowed in will need to be escorted by a city worker. 

“These are big changes which will take some getting used to, but this is the best way that we can see to keep our employees safe and providing services as well as provide an additional layer of production to the public,” Kinser said. 

The city had planned to close parts of city hall after July 1 for security projects, but the pandemic allowed for them to work on those items while the building was closed. 

“The security projects were to reduce the number of public entrances into the building and to secure the remaining entrances so that a visitor has to make contact with the department or person in City Hall before they can access any interior offices,” Kinser said. “Once we had those projects completed, there was no longer a reason to remain closed to the public.”

Kinser is warily optimistic about city hall opening to the public. 

“I think being open is a milestone, but one that we are approaching very cautiously,” she said. “COVID-19 is here, and we are trying to do the best we can to mitigate risks for the public and for employees. We are still encouraging people to do as much business as possible by phone or email.”

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Contact Thomas Nelson at 641-753-6611 or tnelson@timesrepublican.com