BATAVIA – The interior of the Batavia Government Center will get a major overhaul designed to make the building more functional and easier for visitors to navigate.

The key to the plan is the creation of a large public reception area on the ground floor, providing direct access to the Utility Billing Department, which would move from its office on the second floor.

The Batavia City Council on June 19 approved a $97,900 contract with Allen + Pepa Architects of Geneva to prepare construction drawings and bid documents for the work.

The building has two principal entrances on its west side, with the one to the north providing public access to the Batavia Police Department. The entrance to the south is seen as underutilized and would be better defined as the main public entry to the building.

The plans also include revamped office spaces and conference rooms on the first and second floors, better definition between the police department and the rest of the building, new restrooms and new staircases.

“We’ll be unlocking the potential of the building,” architect Lane Allen of Batavia told aldermen at a recent committee meeting. “More things start to work properly.”

The massive three-story limestone building, once home to the Appleton Co. windmill factory in the late 1800s, has been renovated and adapted for the city’s use many times.

The building’s showpiece is the City Council chambers, where the building’s limestone walls and ceiling support timbers are on full display. Plans are to expose those same architectural elements in the new public reception space.

Work on the first phase of the project, which will be spread over two budget years, is estimated at $450,000, Public Works Director Gary Holm said.