By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
It’s been 30 years since the Wood County Health Department moved from its old home in the building on West Wooster Street that once housed orphaned and delinquent kids.
In those three decades not much has changed at the “new” health department on East Gypsy Lane Road. The original ceiling panels hang with the original lighting, shining down on the original furniture, sitting on the original carpet.
So on Friday evening, the Wood County Board of Health voted to contract with SSOE for architectural services, pending approval from the Wood County Prosecutor’s Office.
Though the health department has done work over the years to update and expand the attached community health center, this will be the first substantial improvement to the building, Wood County Health Commissioner Ben Robison explained after the board meeting.
“Things wear out,” he said.
The goal will be a review and reorder how the square footage is used, allowing for more spaces of collaboration, and making room for additional staff who have been hired over the years.
It is possible that the project may go further and add a board meeting room on the west end of the building. That expansion would allow WIC – the nutrition program for women, infants and children – to move back into the health department building, taking the space now used for board meetings.
The estimated cost of the project is $2.7 million, Robison said. SSOE’s contract would be for 8% of the overall cost.
In addition to updating outdated furnishings, the refreshing of the building would also improve operations, Robison said.
“This would allow us to be as efficient as we can be,” he said.
The building upgrades will be paid for with $150,000 in COVID funding, $450,000 in ARPA funds from the Wood County Commissioners, and $2.1 million from the health department’s general fund.
“We want to use these dollars to make a lasting impact on the community, Robison said of the COVID and ARPA funding. The COVID funding, which must be used by the end of July, will be used to refresh the communications and the epidemiology sections of the health department – services in great need during the pandemic.
The general fund money includes dollars set aside for building updates.
“We’re taking the deferred maintenance and applying it all at once,” Robison said.
Funding will be dedicated to annual maintenance of large items in the future, he said.
