The Gainesville City Commission will consider a contract to install school zone speed cameras on Thursday, along with items on the renovation of City Hall Plaza and a historic designation for Gainesville Lodge. 

The meeting will start at 10 a.m. with the morning agenda. The commission will hear an expansion plan for the Tom Petty Park parking lot before turning to camera enforcement in school zones.  

Earlier this year, the City Commission unanimously decided to install both school cameras and red-light cameras, but wants to start cautiously. Commissioners approved two school zone cameras and two red-light cameras as a test case.  

At Thursday’s meeting, a contract with RedSpeed Florida, LLC for the school zone cameras is on the agenda. The company would install the cameras to capture license plates of vehicles going more than 10 miles per hour over the posted speed limit during school hours. 

The city decided on Lincoln Middle School and Talbot Elementary School as the initial zones. 

During the afternoon session, starting at 1 p.m., the commission will discuss the City Hall Plaza. 

Gainesville commissioners directed staff to move forward with a renovation of City Hall Plaza after voting not to fix the fountains, but construction hasn’t started yet. The commissioners will vote to ratify a maximum price for the project, listed at $1.7 million.  

Design plans show an open walkway to replace the fountain, additional seating, a speaking platform, a spot for a future statue and expanded sunken gardens. 

Finally, during the evening session, the commissioners will settle contrary votes from the City Plan Board and the Historic Preservation Board concerning the Gainesville Lodge.  

A new owner is renovating the lodge and filed a request for status on the city’s historic register. If approved, the owner could apply for additional grant funding. 

But the two advisory boards differed on whether the lodge has the merit to join the historic register. The plan board said no, and the historic preservation board said yes. 

The building started in 1961 as a Travelodge, a chain of rest stops across the United States. Gainesville preservation officer said the building typifies the midcentury modern look of travel stops that popped up during increased vehicle tourism.