Palmetto Bay will hold a ground-breaking ceremony Thursday for its environmentally friendly Village Hall to be built in the Franjo Triangle Island commercial district.

The hall will be Florida's first city hall to be built LEED ``Gold-Certified.''

To increase environmental awareness and efficiency in the community, Palmetto Bay's new 24,500-square-foot hall has been designed to implement ``green'' initiatives.

The LEED certification building system has granted the $3.7 million building a ``gold'' certification, one of the highest levels.

There are plans for Village Hall to reach the highest level or ``platinum.''

That means the building will be self-sustaining.

The hall's design already makes it energy and water efficient.

``We want to get it to be a $50,000 savings [a year] on the utility bill,'' Mayor Eugene Flinn said, adding, ``It's about quality construction.''

``We want to serve as an example of good, clean, green construction,'' added Bill Kress, Palmetto Bay's public information officer. ``We want future buildings in the area to follow suit.''

After a selection process, JMWA Architects, a U.S. Green Building Council member, was chosen to design Palmetto Bay's first village hall.

The current rented space of 8,000 square feet was too small, so Flinn decided to build a new, larger, and environmentally friendly Village Hall.

The space was ``not enough to provide proper work space for both our staff and residents who need services,'' Flinn said.

The new Village Hall will house Palmetto Bay's staff, including its police department. It will also host town hall meetings.

Flinn hopes the location at 9705 E. Hibiscus St. will ``draw more positive reinvestment'' in the Franjo Triangle Island area.

``Once we have a better village hall there with all the activity it will spur new businesses and create a resident friendly atmosphere there,'' he predicted.

The ground-breaking will be at 4 p.m. with village resident and CBS4 anchor Jim Berry as the master of ceremony.

Other expected attendees include U.S. Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Miami-Dade County Commissioner Katy Sorenson.

``This is all about the beginning,'' Flinn said.

``We're finally turning some dirt there to get our ideas out of the idea stage and into the implementation stage.''

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