Mayor Thomas M. Menino announced Dec. 12 that he intends to build an "architecturally magnificent" City Hall on the South Boston waterfront, an undertaking that would turn over to developers the current controversial behemoth on City Hall Plaza. The move would shift the locus of city government to a more remote outpost of the city.

But the plans, like the building that currently houses City Hall, drew sharply divided reactions.

Read the story