The old Merrill City Hall was vacated in 1978, and now, nearly 50 years later, The Lofts at City Hall held their ribbon cutting ceremony.
This project has been four years in the making. It takes a structure from the late 1800s and turned it into a modern apartment building.
"I think a lot of people would have said we were pretty crazy, but you know you have to be a little crazy to take on a building like this because we're four years in and we've accomplished all our major milestones at this time and we're pretty excited with the results and to be able to celebrate it with the city of Merrill," said Mark Rein, Owner.
Because of the layout of the building, every single one of the 16 units is completely unique, with different windows, ceiling heights, room shapes and more.
One unit even utilizes the tower on top of the building.
"It's one of our largest units and it's kind of neat because by being able to go up into the tower you get the most impressive views of the city of Merrill," said Rein.
The Merrill City Hall was originally built in 1888, where it served as the hub for everything. The jail, post office, bank and even library could all be found there.
And some of it is still there.
"So the jail is still there so to get into that particular unit there's a jail cell door that has to be opened. and when you get into that unit if you wanna use the bathroom you have to open a jail cell door to get into the bathroom," said Rein.
The bank vault door are also still there, with one acting as a pantry, and another, a door to a bathroom in one of the units.
Many of the units are already rented, but they've still got a few more to renovate. Those should be available to rent once those are complete.
Despite each unit's unique size, shape and features, they all remain market price.
They said one of the goals in starting the project was to provide workforce housing in central Wisconsin.
