Summerfield has town hall envy – and it now looks like the small town is going to do something about that by building a brand new one.

For years, many leaders in Summerfield have been dissatisfied with aspects of the current town hall, and this week Summerfield Mayor BJ Barnes said that the discussions have been proceeding well and the money and the votes are there for the town to finally undertake the project after years of discussing the need.

A new town hall was one of the matters discussed at a recent committee meeting meant to address the town’s capital needs. For many town leaders, a new town hall has been near the top of the list of needs for a long time.

Barnes said that the current aging town hall has a lot of negatives.  Also, the town has to pay to rent meeting space each month.

“We don’t own the building,” Barnes said of the community center the town rents for meetings.

He added that issues are particularly evident when one looks at the town halls of other small towns in the county. He said that Oak Ridge, Stokesdale and Pleasant Garden, for instance, have very nice town halls.

Mayor Barnes, who many know as the former sheriff of Guilford County, said that the best bet now is that Summerfield will end up building a new structure for about $3.5 million. He also said that the town has more than enough money in savings to cover that expense. In fact, he said, the project could be covered just by the interest on the town’s savings account that has accumulated over the years.

Barnes said that he, as always, is very interested in cutting the cost as low as possible while still building a structure the town can be proud of.