The city of South Bend is behind schedule in moving its offices out of the County-City Building but will hit a project landmark Tuesday.
The Mayor James Mueller administration has been planning the move for almost three years. Six floors of city offices will move from the County-City Building at Jefferson and Lafayette to the former South Bend Community Schools administration building on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, across from the Century Center parking lot.
For 53 years the city has shared the 15-story County-City Building with St. Joseph County government.
But the city says space is tight and they’ll gain efficiencies by bringing all departments under one roof. That means closing the city utilities offices at Main and Colfax, along with the building department offices across Lafayette Boulevard.
"One of the things that residents will notice will be a one-stop shop," said Jitin Kain, the city’s deputy public works director. "Everything from paying bills to getting a building permit, to applying for grants or programs, all within one space."
On Tuesday the city’s Board of Public Works will consider awarding a $7.3 million bid to renovate the new building from LaPorte-based Larson-Danielson Construction Co. The city has also paid the school corporation $2.8 million for the building. The city has said those costs will be offset by savings from the new efficiencies over the next 20 years.
The move was supposed to happen in January but Kain says delays in finding labor and parts to renovate the elevators has pushed the expected completion date back to August.
