NEW TOWN – The City of New Town will have a new event space by the end of the year to replace its aging civic center.

The city began seeking bids this month to assemble an 8,000 square foot event facility to be located at 235 Main Street in New Town. New Town City Auditor Eileen Zaun described the new structure, which will be named The Venue, as a “barndominium,” which is a barn-like structure furnished for a variety of events.

“It’s a two-story knox post-barn kit. It’s a kit we’re having someone put together. They build it out of state and put it together like a jig-saw puzzle,” Zaun said. “It will be a big event center for weddings, showers, funerals, meetings, rummage sales, whatever you want.”

The Venue will have a maximum capacity of 400 and will include an outdoor playground among other amenities. According to the advertisement for bids, the venue will have timber post, beam and truss construction with wood interior framing to include a main floor for event space, associated support spaces and a second floor loft.

Zaun said the construction will be funded by sales tax, contributions from the Jobs Development Agency and oil and gas revenue.

“We also have money we’ve been putting away. We’ve been saving up for this for a while,” Zaun said. “It will be a nice building when it gets done.”

Zaun said the old civic center, which is attached to the old city hall, will be torn down. The new city hall will not include any event space, which Zaun said led to the plans for The Venue.

“The old building just can’t do it anymore. The plumbing was shot. The windows weren’t working right; the doors and the flooring needed to be replaced. It was just cheaper to think about building a new city hall. The mayor was the one who found this building and thought this would be perfect,” Zaun said.

Zaun estimated the pieces of the structure will be transported in about 16 semi-trailers after the foundation is laid sometime in May. The expected opening date for The Venue is in December.

“It will be a pretty impressive place. We’re excited to have it,” Zaun said. “It will be nice when it’s up.”