Geothermal System Possible For New City Hall-Library

Oak Creek is considering a geothermal system to heat the new city hall-library building that will be constructed in the Drexel Town Square development.

A geothermal system, which taps into the earth to produce energy, could save the city almost 30 percent on utility bills, officials said. But it would also add about $320,000 to the project.

The city wants to install the system but has to find the revenue to make the initial purchase, City Administrator Gerald Peterson said. It would take an estimated 11 years for the city to recover its costs, according to Sustainable Engineering Group, which made a presentation about the system to the Oak Creek Common Council last week.

The city has set a budget of $19.5 million to construct and furnish the city hall-library building at Drexel Town Square and a new fire station on Centennial Drive. 

The latest floor plans for the city hall-library, which include an atrium connecting the two facilities, total about 85,000 square feet. That represents a signficant increase over the square footage of the current buildings—the library is about 14,000 square feet, and city hall about 16,000.

But Peterson said the city would likely see some energy savings even without the geothermal system because of how inefficient the facilities are now.

Construction on the city hall-library is expected to begin later this year.

For the latest news and archived coverage of the Drexel Town Square project, check out Oak Creek Patch's special section.