Representing the misguided decision of city governments to relocate away from downtown areas, the city hall stands several blocks away from Elko's core, near the convention center. Purhonen, a local architect, designed a modern structure of steel, brick, and glass featuring a curving wall facing the street. Thin piers, separating tall, narrow windows, rise to a metal cornice. Two low brick sections project from the central mass, connected to it by low hyphens that contain the building's entrances.