Cost of remodeling Community Services Building for Dunn County offices “at budget”
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — The cost of remodeling the Community Services Building on state Highway 12/29 to accommodate Dunn County offices now located in the Government Center on Wilson Avenue is expected to be consistent with estimates.
“We just inked the final cost, and it’s at budget,” said Paul Miller, county manager, at the Dunn County Board’s April 17 meeting.
The cost of finishing off the space available for county offices in the Community Services Building — the former Dunn County Health Care Center — was estimated at about $4 million.
The Dunn County Board, on a vote of 27 in favor and one against, approved moving out of the Government Center at the July 25, 2018, meeting.
According to information Miller provided to the county board last July, keeping county offices in the Government Center would require $3.8 million in repairs for upgrading the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), for replacing the elevator to make it Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant and for replacing the roof.
Miller told the county board at the April 17 meeting that county employees had been given “lots of input” on the design of the office spaces.
Construction is expected to begin April 29, and offices will begin moving from the Government Center on Wilson Avenue to the Community Services Building in October, Miller said.
Even after a wing is finished in the upstairs portion of the Community Services Building, offices will not be able to move until the entire project is finished because the upstairs would still be under construction in other sections, Miller said.
Dunn County plans to sell the Government Center building on Wilson Avenue.
Last July, it was reported to the county board that the cost of custodial services and utilities for the additional office space in the Community Services Building is expected to be $87,000 per year, but the current cost of utilities, maintenance and custodial services in the Government Center is $274,000 per year, representing a savings of $187,000.
The City of Menomonie offices occupy the third floor of the Government Center, and the city pays $125,000 per year in rent.
The savings on utilities and custodial services at the Community Services Building combined with the loss of revenue from the City of Menomonie is still expected to result in a net gain of $62,000.
Dunn County remodeled part of the old health care center for some county offices at a cost of about $12 million after the Neighbors of Dunn County was finished in 2012.