Johnson County employees are moving back into the new and improved county administration building after a year of renovations.
County employees who were housed in the administration building, located at 913 S. Dubuque St., have worked out of the third floor of the health and human services building since August 2023 while the administration building received various upgrades. The health and human services building is located at 855 S. Dubuque St.
The building’s HVAC and elevators received improvements, as well as public and employee spaces, including more room, lighting, and upgraded customer service counters, according to Melissa Robert, the county’s special projects manager. Single-user restrooms, accessibility improvements, and more emergency exits were also added, she said.
The project was prompted after a space needs study was presented to the board of supervisors in 2019.
The project cost over $7 million, with around 70 percent being paid for using federal pandemic relief funds, Robert said. County taxpayers did not have to see increased taxes to foot the bill of the project, she said.
Employees are now in the process of moving from the health and human services building into the administration building. County offices are moving back in phases, which began Aug. 16 and will end Sept. 9, Robert said.
The first two groups to move into the building were the auditor and treasurer and finance offices. The planning, development, and sustainability employees began moving Aug. 27 and opened their offices on Aug. 28, followed by the county assessor, city assessor, human resources office, and recorder.
Chris Edwards, the county’s first deputy auditor, said his office’s move on the weekend of Aug. 16 went well, and employees are enjoying the new upgrades, such as a brighter lobby and new standing desks.
Edwards said he’s grateful the project finished so employees have time to settle before the upcoming presidential election in November.
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The new upgrades will benefit both the public and county employees, Edwards said.
“I think the public will notice a big difference when they come in, and I think all of our offices will be able to do a better job of serving the public,” Edwards said.
The next project for county buildings is slated for the health and human services building, mostly the third floor. As soon as the last county employee is moved back into the administration building on Sept. 9, construction on the third floor will begin, Robert said. The anticipated end date is sometime in February 2025, she said.
The project will focus mainly on the west wing of the third floor and will construct offices and a new boardroom for the county board of supervisors, Robert said. Currently, the third floor of the building is largely unfinished storage space, and supervisors are housed in temporary offices in the health and human services building, she said.
Rod Sullivan, chair of the board of supervisors, said the supervisors and staff are excited about the new space in the building. Not only will the public benefit from the upgraded boardroom, but supervisor staff will have an easier time working, he said.
“One of the things that will be nice is having staff all together. For years, we've had staff kind of spread out, and that's a little bit of a challenge,” Sullivan said. “It's a lot easier to manage folks when they're closer together.”