Town of Greensboro departments are challenged for space

GREENSBORO – The Town of Greensboro employees have been pressed for space since the evacuation of the former Greensboro Town Hall building due to mold and asbestos contamination in October 2024. “We got 10 pounds of stuff we're trying to put in a five-pound can,” said Greensboro Mayor David Spencer at the Mar. 20, 2025, Greensboro Town Council meeting.

Proposed ideas to reconfigure town operations led to concerns among citizens, especially those in connection with the Greensboro Historical Society, which uses space in the Municipal Building at 104 E. Sunset Ave.

The Town announced on Oct. 17, 2024, via their website that testing “confirmed the presence of asbestos and multiple types of mold” in the building that housed Town Hall at the time, 113 S. Main St. The Town Hall had also experienced a bat infestation earlier in 2024. As a result, the Town noted that “Town Hall operations will … be located at the Council meeting room until further notice,” which is in a separate town-owned building at 111 S. Main St.

Town Hall operations were permanently located to 111 S. Main St., sharing space with the Council meeting room, Greensboro Police Department, and Greensboro Connects Food Pantry.

A public hearing was held on Mar. 6, 2025, on the topic of selling the former Town Hall at 113 S. Main St. building for $165,000. During the hearing, one Greensboro resident questioned the Council as to where the funds from the sale of the building would be used. The Council responded that some of the funds would be used to pay off debt and the rest would be put into a reserve. The ordinance to sell the property was approved by the Council at the Mar. 6, 2025, meeting.

According to town officials, creating space for police, town management, council meeting quarters, and food pantry in the single building has been a challenge. The discussion of potentially shifting operations among the two municipal buildings began at the Feb. 20, 2025, meeting. It was noted during the discussion that the building at 104 E. Sunset Avenue houses the Greensboro Historical Society Museum. The Museum is owned by the Town and leased to the Greensboro Historical Society at no cost.

Greensboro Town Manager Tammy Kelledes suggested reconfiguring town management operations and police operations in the 111 S. Main St. building and shifting the food pantry to share space with the Historical Society at 104 E. Sunset Avenue.

Greensboro Police Chief Lenox Trams stated his preferred arrangement, “I am proposing [the Police Department] going down to where the Historical Society currently is.” Chief Trams also mentioned that the Museum was formerly the Police Department. “When they had four officers, this whole building {the current Town Hall] suited the Police Department. As we know, the Town ran into some issues and they had to shack up with the Police Department, so now we’re all in one building which isn’t very conducive for a Police Department… My opinion is [the Museum building] would be more accommodating.”

Kelledes and Trams discussed IT and security movement concerns, along with handicap accessibility, and the potential for demolition and reconstruction to accommodate the shifting of departments.

Attendees at the Feb. 20,2025, meeting raised concerns about the cost of each option and the potential ramifications of removing the Historical Society from their current space. “We’re really really early on in this process,” said Mayor Spencer, “we are talking about uprooting the Historical Society, moving a lot of people around, so there needs to be a great deal of thought, and this is our first blush at it.”

Kelledes clarified that moving the Greensboro Connects Food Pantry - which “sees over 100 families per week” - to the Museum would not cost the Town anything as a “food bank and a grocery store have offered to pay for the remodel and two commercial size freezers. The remodel includes flooring, paint, shelving… so that one would be nothing for us here.”

Social media posts about the possibility of the town building at 104 E. Sunset Ave. being changed in use and purpose circulated prior to the Town Council Meeting on Mar. 20, 2025. Originally scheduled as a workshop with the Council and Greensboro Historical Society leadership, after the issue gained traction on social media, it was decided that the Historical Society would have a spot on the regular meeting agenda. Many community members and Greensboro Historical Society supporters attended the meeting.

The majority of the nearly hour-and-a-half-long meeting was dedicated to discussion of how to fit Greensboro’s departments, organizations, and offices into space currently owned by the Town, including the building at 104 E. Sunset Ave. “It’s going to be difficult for us not to utilize the Historical Society building,” said Mayor Spencer, “and that’s terrible. I’m a lifelong resident and I will do whatever I can to help the Historical Society, but we need that space.”

Councilman Robert Harrison shared his opinion that those previously holding office space in the former Town Hall “impeded on the Police Department because of an emergency. Why should we move the police?” Mayor Spencer added, “We spent a lot of money already on [the Police Department] side of the [Municipal] building to make sure it was in compliance.”

“It’s not that hard, right? Just be honest with people. Do we need the building that the Historical Society is in?” Councilman Joe Noon asked. Kelledes responded in the affirmative, reiterating plans to share the space with the food pantry and working out a way to store Historical Society property.

The discussions brought negative reactions from the public in attendance, prompting Councilwoman Robinson to address the crowd: “You guys have all of these comments and all of these concerns that were supposed to be addressed, and we were supposed to work out things.” She continued, “When we get ahead of ourselves, people's feelings and emotions get involved and sound decisions aren't made. So, I ask that we all allow the Historical Society to do their presentation.”

During his presentation, Greensboro Historical Society President Charles Dean III pointed out a lack of communication from the Council, “I heard through the grapevine after the Feb. 20, 2025, meeting that the displacement, if you want to call it that, of the Historical Society was being considered. It is my hope, my expectation, that if something so important, so crucial to the existence of Historical Society, was going to be discussed, that we would have been invited or notified in advance.”

Mayor Spencer took “full responsibility” for the miscommunication, “I broached this topic tonight purposely because I didn't like the way it was going. I think that we were going too fast, and I wasn't there for the final discussion…and that bothered me.”

Dean highlighted the functions of the Museum as a research facility, tourism attraction, and historical resource for the community. He also addressed logistical and budgetary concerns about the moving or removing of historical artifacts from the Museum building. “We have perfectly positioned and leveraged that space,” he said, “the way it’s organized is perfect for us. We wouldn’t change a thing.”

Several members of the Historical Society spoke during the public comment section of the meeting.

“We do not wish to disband or relocate the Historical Society…I’m not sure how the food pantry has moved up so much in the category priorities,” said Historical Society member Bill Schaffner.

Another Historical Society supporter, BJ Tarr, said, “We have no other viable space. We have been good tenants. We have taken care of the building. We have done everything that you guys asked us to do.”

At the conclusion of the Mar. 20, 2025, meeting, Mayor Spencer suggested a joint workshop between Historical Society representatives and the Council to discuss the next steps. In an email following the meeting he wrote that, “The Council is working to meet with the affected parties and come up with the best options/solutions for all involved.”