Sedgwick County is moving forward with the second phase of renovations for its Ronald Reagan office building in Wichita.
The county bought the building in 2014 and spent more than $2 million getting the first three floors ready.
Three departments moved in, and last month, the building was officially opened and renamed the Ronald Reagan Building.
Currently, the Metropolitan Area Building and Construction Department (MABCD), Metro Area Planning Department (MAPD) and Wichita Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (WAMPO) occupy floors 1-3.
This next round of work will get the upper floors of the six-story building at 271 West Third Street ready for new tenants.
The county wants to move the Appraiser’s Office, Department on Aging, COMCARE Administration and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) offices into floors 4-6.
Project Manager Tania Cole says moving those departments into the building will save the county money.
"Moving these departments to the Ronald Reagan Building will eliminate three leases at an annual cost of $385,662 and moving GIS will assist the district attorney’s office in their urgent need for space," she says.
Cole says the county has worked out a parking plan to meet the needs of daily visitors and employees by using existing lots around the building and leasing spaces from the city of Wichita.
The renovations will cost about $1.9 million dollars and take about five months.
The building is expected to be fully occupied by mid-December 2017.
County Commissioners approved the Phase II renovations at a meeting on Monday.
The vote was four-to-one with Commission Chairman Jim Howell voting against.
Howell had introduced a substitute motion to delay the vote on the Phase II renovations until the Jan. 18, 2017 meeting, when two new commissioners will join the board. But the motion was defeated by a vote of four-to-one.
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