NORWICH – The City of Norwich will not be moving city hall anytime in the near future.

After holding a public hearing late last year, the Norwich City Council decided in January to pass on a recent offer to sell the current city hall building.

The city announced in July it was considering selling the building after being contacted with an offer to buy One City Plaza for $130,000.

A Norwich accounting firm, Cwynar & Company made the offer. The company has 11 employees and operated in the area for about 30 years. It is also the firm the city hires to conduct annual independent audits. However that multi-year contract ended in 2019.

Mayor Shawn Sastri thanked the local business, saying it would have been a responsible owner of the property. Sastri said he had no strong opinion about moving city hall or selling the building, but he recommended the council not wait too long to answer. He said the city was reacting to a serious offer, but suggested there may be a better way to handle the process.

“My interpretation was: I just don't think we really had a good estimate of costs for the conversion, and more research was needed. The tax roll impact would take time,” said Sastri.

Sastri said based on information he reviewed, the city would need about $300,000 to renovate the proposed alternative location for city hall, the third floor of the fire department.