Work so far on a 15,000-square-foot city hall on Chestnut Street won praise from the council, but the proposal to build a convention center across the street remained controversial. Council Members Julie Hart and Kay Garcia McAnally held out for a delay in launching that project, saying they wanted more time to study projections by City Manager Mike Talbot about convention center operating costs and other financial details.

Hart and McAnally voted no on a motion to move the construction plan forward. Council Member Joe Beal said Talbot’s latest cost estimates for building and operating the 26,000-square-foot convention center are little different from a similar set of calculations put before the council in April. Beal called the assumptions on which the estimates are built “ultra conservative.”

Council Members Bill Peterson and Ken Kesselus joined Beal in pushing the building program forward.

Talbot estimated construction cost for the new city hall at $3.4 million. He put the final cost of the proposed convention center at $5.9 million. Both figures include furniture, fixtures, wiring for advanced communications technology and professional costs, said Talbot.

Given the current economic climate, bids for both construction projects could be 10 to 15 percent less than present cost estimates, said Mayor Terry Orr. “It’s a good time to bid (construction work),” he said.

Contractors will be invited to bid on each project separately or together, said officials.