After years of discussion, a plan to make New Bern City Hall accessible to those with disabilities through the addition of an elevator has been approved by the city’s Board of Aldermen. City Hall currently provides no handicapped access to the building's second floor courtroom, where Board of Aldermen meetings are regularly held. 

The estimated $2.1 million project calls for the construction of an exterior annex containing an elevator that would be accessible through an entrance on Pollock Street. The annex would also contain restrooms on the first and second floors.