On Wednesday, December 1, Beaufort officially celebrated the opening of its first new city hall in 150 years, a 33,000-square-foot building at the end of Ribaut Road at Boundary Street.

It was a small affair to mark the final addition to the $20.6 million city complex with Mayor Billy Keyserling and a half-dozen other local city officials and military leaders on hand to mark the occasion. City Councilwoman Donnie Beer led the ceremony and Keyserling said a few remarks about what a welcome addition the building is to not only have a better functioning city but a design example by which to lead the city's infill development efforts -- and the mayor couldn't resist a jab at the expense of new construction during a recession by joking that they were about to "put another new building right over there."

Then the commemorative plaque was unveiled, the Beaufort High School band played, and the public invited inside to see the new space and enjoy a simple collection of finger foods. 

More photos from the event are below, but if you'd like more background on the features of the new building check out this release from the city from a few months back.