The city's historic Mission Memorial Building beside Honolulu Hale is getting a $6 million facelift that will prepare it for new duties.

Preliminary work began this month, and officials expect the project to take a year or longer, depending on how much decay, damage and hazardous materials are discovered.

The building — also known as the City Hall Annex — will eventually house city offices to relieve a lack of space in other facilities. "There's no question — it will be heavily used," said city customer services director Jeff Coelho.

The renovation will include removal of asbestos and any other hazards common in old buildings, such as lead-based paint, city Design and Construction director Eugene Lee said.

The project will also include structural repairs, roof replacement, and electrical system upgrades, along with a complete interior renovation and exterior restoration.

The 92-year-old building is one of three historic red brick structures on the civic center grounds. Its larger size, tall white columns and a circular portico on the diamond head side set it apart from the others.

The building was privately constructed in 1915 as a memorial to the New England missionaries who came to Hawai'i nearly 100 years earlier. It served as headquarters for the Hawaiian Evangelical Association.

But the city acquired it in the 1940s and has used it for a variety of functions, including meetings, ballot processing and employee training. Mayor Mufi Hannemann and his transition team were headquartered on the second floor after Hannemann won the 2004 election, and he assembled his cabinet there.

The building's architect, H.L. Kerr, also designed the adjacent Mission Memorial Auditorium, which was completed in 1916.

The structures are considered the only examples of Jeffersonian classical architecture in Hawai'i.

The auditorium was renovated in 2004 for about $2.2 million, and Jeremy Harris delivered his farewell address as mayor there that year.

The third brick building was constructed nearby in 1930 as a bible school, and now serves as the city's Municipal Reference and Records Center.

The city initially estimated costs for the current project at $4.5 million, records show. But the lowest bid, from contractor Walter Y. Arakaki Inc., was more than $5.3 million, with other bids as high as $6.3 million.

Design work and construction management will be handled by Next Design and SSFM International, respectively. Their work is included in separate contracts, for $700,000 and $250,000, that include various civic center improvements.

Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com.