COCOA BEACH, Fla. — It's out with the old and in with the new in Cocoa Beach.

The town's sixty year old rundown city hall is being torn down to make way for a new one.

A building that has served the city of Cocoa Beach for more than six decades is now being dismantled piece by piece.

City Hall dates back to the dawn of the space program.

But after years of storms, salt air and decay, it's time to start over.

"It's a little bit sad watching this, but still a good day," says A.J Hutson, retired Cocoa Beach assistant city manager for 15 years.

His first office was the city manager's bathroom.

They took out the plumbing, and that's where he set up shop.

But by the time he was hired, the building was already nearly forty years old.

"There was a drain in the middle of the floor, and my chair would slide down towards the drain," Hutson laughs.

As the work crew guts the old city hall, you can see all the problems.

Black mold, rusted beams and pipes, and decades old insulation.

Hutson says the aging building wasn't something they liked to showcase.

"It was kind of embarrassing," recalls Hutson. "We'd go around to other city halls and see how nice they were, and we would bring them here and you could see the look on their faces, like 'oh my gosh'."

The concept for a new city hall has been in the works for twenty years.

It took a backseat to building new police and fire stations.

"We need to get into the 21st Century, I mean, we launch rockets here," says longtime Cocoa Beach Mayor Ben Malik. "There shouldn't be any wood paneling in here."

Malik is thrilled it's finally coming to fruition.

But the plans changed when the mayor spoke to Fort Myers Beach officials after that area suffered severe damage from Hurricane Ian.

Instead of a one story building, Cocoa Beach City Hall is now going to be two stories.

The first floor will be a 'wash-through', essentially a floor used for parking but with an understanding it could be lost during storm surges.

"Having that first floor wash through, so God forbid there's a storm surge, and we can still operate city hall and keep everything running," says the mayor.

Hutson has fond memories of his time working at this city hall.

But as he watches it being torn away for something new, he​ thinks of the people who worked here.

And how it's replacement will be a better reflection of the town he loves so much.

"It's the center of government, it's the center of the community," says Hutson. "It's what the community thinks of itself."

Cocoa Beach city commissioners voted 4-1 this past week to move forward with the project.

A start date is in the works.