Simple visions for new City Hall

Mayor Thomas M. Menino's plan for a new jewel of a City Hall on the South Boston waterfront may have gotten sideways looks from a few historians, architects, and city councilors. But the bureaucrats inside the dark and drafty seat of Boston government are already dreaming about the amenities of a new home.

Ordered to imagine the City Hall of the future, about a dozen Boston officials are putting together a wish list that includes things like exotically powered heating and cooling systems and automated services.

But some officials who have spent their entire careers working inside the Brutalist concrete mass at Government Center are downright ebullient at the prospect of simpler things, such as meeting rooms that are easy to find and signs that clearly indicate to the public where they need to go for City Hall functions.

"There will be an electronic sign, and when you come in, it'll be like a hotel: 'Board meeting in the 2-B conference room,' " said Michael Galvin , chief of basic city services. "It's just that exciting."

Boston's City Hall of about four decades -- built to symbolize a new era that celebrated common people -- has been widely criticized as being forbidding. Officials say they want an inviting building, if Menino's vision is realized. But a new City Hall would also be designed to accommodate fewer people.

With the numbers of people who actually go to City Hall to conduct business appearing to decline in recent years, officials say a new building would rely heavily on virtual transactions and less on person-to-person contact.

"In 10 years, it's going to be dramatically different," said Bill Oates , the city's chief information officer. "Online transactions will certainly be the majority."

City officials also imagine a cultural center in conjunction with a new City Hall, one that would replace the current brick plaza with a tent area where residents can enjoy views of the skyline as they listen to jazz, oldies, and hip-hop. A new bike path would connect Roxbury to the new City Hall.

The city is in discussions with state officials over possibly creating a new underground MBTA stop along the Silver Line that would service a new City Hall.

The public's use would be concentrated on the first two or three floors, to eliminate the misdirection and wandering around that goes on in the current building.

"You can have some great art galleries there, too," Menino said. "In the back you could have a veranda where people can come enjoy themselves in the summertime."

"We're going to use as much technology and green stuff as we can so this will be an example not only in Boston but throughout the country," he added. "But I also want to make sure that as we do this, we don't get impersonal. We have to make sure there are places people can go to talk to someone from an agency."

Stull and Lee Architects this week began interviewing department heads as part of a $100,000 study to update the space needs of 43 city departments. By mid-summer, city officials are hoping to have planners and architects meet to begin designing the new City Hall.

The city is also planning to renovate the Ferdinand Building in Dudley Square, where several departments and about 1,500 employees will be housed.

The architects and city employees are evaluating everything from how many fax machines and photo copiers will be needed on each floor to what types of service centers will be needed for residents to pay bills or lodge complaints.

A major focus of the effort is also examining how and why people use city hall, and how that is changing with new technology. Online transactions have skyrocketed in recent years as residents have grown more comfortable using the Internet to pay their taxes and parking tickets.

There were 434,578 online transactions last year -- about 20 percent more than in 2005 -- and the city collected $39.6 million, twice the amount in 2005. But the majority of payments are still paid in person or through the mail.

Oates said the city plans to mount a marketing campaign to encourage residents to use the city's website for bill payments and other services.

Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com.