It's moving day for Hermantown city employees .
City staff members are moving into their brand-new $3.6 million addition to the Hermantown Public Safety building today, ending more than two decades of working out of the cramped offices at 5255 Maple Grove Road.
The new administrative service addition boasts soaring ceilings, lots of sunlight and plenty of space for city staff members to spread out. City offices will be closed today so employees can complete the move, including telephone and computer systems, and settle into their new digs. The new offices at 5105 Maple Grove Road will open for business Tuesday, with a dedication ceremony planned at 3 p.m. Feb. 11.
"Everyone is excited," said Hermantown City Administrator Lynn Lander. "We look forward to having some working space."
The Hermantown City Council voted to move ahead with the 17,000-square-foot addition in August 2006. The administrative offices were built onto the 29,000-square-foot Public Safety Building, which houses the police and volunteer fire departments. Both facilities were paid for by the city's half-cent sales tax.
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Hermantown Planning and Zoning Director John Klaers said he will miss the old offices, even though he's been working out of a conference room since 1985.
"There have been some historic decisions made here," Klaers said, such as the city's comprehensive plan, which is used to guide development within the 36-square-mile community.
Down the hall and around the corner, city utility billing clerk Janice Shepherd was rolling up city maps and packing office supplies for the move. "We've been at it all week," Shepherd said.
"I'm down to one pen and one pencil," City Clerk Debbie Lund said as she sat at her nearly bare desk. She had found a few surprises as she cleaned out every last nook and cranny in her office, including two old pairs of eyeglasses and check stubs that dated back to July 2, 1990, her first day of work with the city.
The new offices also should be more efficient, because related departments now can be located side-by-side, and records that many city employees need to access will be centrally located, Lander said.
A city task force is studying possible uses for the old city hall. Most of the discussion has centered on some kind of all-ages community center, Klaers said. Part of the building also will be used as a new, permanent home for the Hermantown Historical Society's collection, he said.
