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WENTWORTH - Iris Powell has mostly good things to say about the new town hall that now graces the county seat.

She likes the ample space that it provides for the town’s two employees, town administrator Brenda Ward and finance officer Yvonne Russell.

“I fought for this town hall, and I like it,” said Powell, a member of the Wentworth Town Council. “It’s a gorgeous thing.”

Powell lodged her one complaint during a recent tour of the building, which town officials moved into June 17.

She doesn’t particularly care for the bench and platform that separate council members from constituents in the meeting room. It gives the appearance that the council is towering over them, Powell said.

“You can deal better with anybody eye to eye — when you see them and you talk to them face to face,” she said.

Wentworth town officials are still getting acclimated to their new 6,700 -square-foot digs at N.C. 87 and Peach Tree Road.

The town will hold its first council meeting in the new building July 7.

Although a new administrative building is not normally cause for a huge celebration, the one in Wentworth is different. It is a first for the town, which this summer is celebrating the 11 anniversary of its incorporation.

Officials previously conducted business in the National Guard Armory building on N.C. 65.

“I think it gives Wentworth its identity,” Ward said of the town hall.

Officials broke ground on the $1 million building late last summer. The town has already paid off half the cost using its reserve fund, Ward and Powell said.

The town used a local builder, The Wright Co. in Eden, and more than 90 percent of the contractors were local, said project manager David Southard.

Ward and Russell were stuffed into two rooms in the armory building. Ward shared an office with Mayor Dennis Paschal, and Russell’s office doubled as the copier room. Wentworth rented additional space from the armory to store records.

Both women and the mayor now have their own offices. The building also has storage space, a kitchen and a break area, as well as four additional offices should the town ever decide to expand its staff.

It also has a reception desk, which now sits empty. “Maybe we’ll have volunteers to come in — who knows?” Ward said.

With a new building comes other capabilities previously foreign to town hall.

Because Wentworth is the county seat, Ward said, she often got calls from residents looking for county services and would have to direct them to the proper office. Now, when residents call the town’s main number, they are greeted with an automated message that provides numbers to county offices.

“I think we can be so much more efficient now,” Ward said.

Near the town hall, a new courthouse and jail are being built.

“I think that having the town hall across from the new fire station and near the new courthouse will provide a new center for the community,” said T Butler, a Wentworth resident and active volunteer.

At the same time, Butler said, the town maintains its charm and history.

The old courthouse, which is being considered as a home for a county museum, and Wentworth’s other historic buildings will be a tourist destination, she said.

Contact Jonnelle Davis at 627-4881, Ext. 126, or jonnelle.davis@news-record.com.