The Key West City Hall was originally constructed as Monroe County High School.  The front building and the Auditorium was completed in September 1923, and the rear building was completed in 1927. Over the next 90 years  the school served as a high school, middle school, and finally as an elementary school named after Glynn Archer, a long-serving local educator. The school also appeared in several scenes of the 1955 move ‘The Rose Tattoo’, filmed in Key West.

In 2014, an agreement was made between the Monroe County School Board and the City of Key West to turn the building over to the City for adaptive reuse as a new City Hall.  This work began with demolition of a deteriorated rear wing of the school constructed in the 1950’s. In 2015, construction began on the new City Hall. 

The building is designed as a completely new structure within the historic outer walls of the 1920’s building. The historic Auditorium now serves as the Commission Chambers for the City of Key West, with the other areas serving as office spaces for the City’s many departments.  Many of the building’s original elements were reused within the building, including seating from the historic Auditorium, trusses from the original roof structure, and historic metal windows.  In addition, all of the heart pine wood from the original structure was reclaimed for use in the building or in other buildings in town.  The new building is constructed to meet modern Building and hurricane codes. 

The project is constructed to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards. The project attained the highest level of certification, LEED Platinum.