New London — It was in 2015 that the City Council authorized bonding $3 million to restore City Hall.

The cost estimates for the work turned out to be shockingly low compared to the $8 million bid for the work 2017. The long-planned work on the aging structure — complete with the temporary movement of city personnel to rented space during the restoration — was put on hold.

The city lost another opportunity to renovate during a planned move of city offices to rented space earlier this year. The idea of consolidating city offices into rented space on Howard Street ultimately was rejected by the City Council.

The city now is poised to tackle its first major restoration project as part of a new phased approach to the work.

The City Council earlier this month approved a $425,600 contract with Torrington-based Valley Restoration/ Historic Plaster Solutions LLC to start work on the deteriorating walls and ceilings on the third floor of City Hall, including the Council Chambers and an anteroom where the walls are covered with a historical mural.

The city’s Office of Development and Planning, which has taken over as a project manager for the City Hall work, saw an opportunity to get into Council Chambers when the City Hall elevator broke down. The elevator will cost a minimum of $153,000 to fix. Work is expected to be completed over the next two months.

The lack of an elevator and handicapped access to the upper floors of City Hall have led the City Council and other boards and commissions to hold meetings at various locations outside City Hall — an opportunity for the preservation specialist to get in without disturbing the meetings calendar.

Mayor Michael Passero said a timeline for the work is not yet clear but it is expected to start sometime over the next year with little if any disruption to meetings, even if the elevator work is completed by that time.

Passero, a city councilor when the $3 million for restorations was approved, said the city never gave up on the work. It has applied for Historic Preservation credits to boost the overall budget needed to complete the entirety of the work.

The state’s Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit Program establishes a 25 percent tax credit on the expenses of rehabilitation work of qualified projects.

The project at City Hall includes a variety of exterior and interior work to bring the building in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and upgrades to the mechanical systems — all with an eye toward historical detail. The building was constructed in 1912 to replace an older municipal building on the same site. The building sits in a downtown district on the National Register of Historic Places.

“This is not a renovation project, it’s a historic preservation process,” Passero said of the planned work.

Prior to the council's approval for the plaster work, there was about $2.5 million left of the original money earmarked for the restoration. Some of the money was spent on design and bid documents, along with smaller projects such as the light poles and clock at the entrance to City Hall.

The City Council waived the normal bidding process on the plaster work and considers Historic Plaster Solutions LLC a “sole source provider,” and the only company authorized by the New England territory of Historic Plaster Conservation Services USA.

The company, in a letter to the city, notes “the plaster on the ceiling is a system that was installed as a system, deteriorated as a system, and should be stabilized as a complete system. Spot repairs and spot stabilization does not provide a long term solution.”

The company plans to keep as much of the original “historic fabric installed by original craftsmen intact,” with patented products to reinforce existing plaster.

g.smith@theday.com