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The former Total Card Inc. building on Roundwind Road in Luverne is now the temporary home for the Rock County Extension Service and Southwest Health and Human Services.
Office workers moved across the street temporarily while a new heating and cooling system is installed and lighting is updated to LED fixtures in the 40-year-old county building.
The $938,000 project by Johnson Controls is expected to be completed in 90 days.
Nancy Walker with SWHHS said 30 workers in the areas of child support, financial assistance, licensing, public health and social services and administration are affected by the move.
“About half will work remotely,” she said.
The other staff members were busy setting up their offices Friday when phone and computer lines were switched over to the temporary location.
All phone numbers remain the same.
Two employees are affected at the Rock County Extension Service.
Kelsey Maeschen with Extension advised that visitors to her temporary office should call ahead.
“They’ll need to check in at the front door, and we will have to bring them back to our office,” she said.
Work at the Extension/HHS offices is part of a $1.4 million building improvement plan approved by commissioners more than a year ago and is part of the $4.5 million general obligation bond the county secured in January 2022.
Two other county building improvement projects will take place in September.
A chiller will be replaced at the courthouse, and the Rock County Library will also undergo HVAC improvements.
Neither of the September projects requires staff to move during the work period.
Extension and Health and Human Services personnel are expected to move back into their original offices in late July.
In lieu of paying rent to the city of Luverne, who owns the former TCI building, the county upgraded the building’s secure entrance and internet connections for the future Luverne day care center in that location.