By HOLLY WAGNER
Herald-Whig Staff Writer
A line of student workers moved through the hall at 1416 Maine, each carrying a desk drawer, a lamp or a stack of papers. They were the first wave of the Quincy Public Schools' administrative offices' move from 1444 Maine into the former QP & amp;S Clinic.
The move will consolidate offices that sprawl over three buildings. For the first time, the superintendent's secretary will be in an office adjacent to the superintendent. And the rabbit's warren of tiny cramped offices in the basement of 1444 Maine, with its narrow hallways lined with file cabinets, will be abandoned for large, airy ground-floor rooms.
Larissa Brady had mixed feelings about leaving the historic building that has been home to the district's offices since 1966. She was the first to move to the new building Thursday as part of a process that will take until about mid-July, Maintenance Director Dennis Peters said.
Brady advised workers installing her receptionist's desk in the entry hall at 1416 Maine. She felt no ambivalence about the spaciousness of her new quarters.
"My area was so confined," she said. "I had just enough room to turn my chair. Now I can just roll around everywhere."
Across from her are the accounts payable and health benefits offices, which had attracted a steady stream of visitors to the basement. To her right are the offices for the superintendent and secretary. Nearby offices house the two assistant superintendents, the business manager and their secretaries.
The offices were classrooms until district personnel divided them in two. Almost all the work to prepare the former school building was done in-house, Peters said. The district is reusing its office furniture and doing everything possible to keep costs down.
"We'll see an immediate savings" from utilities, Superintendent Lonny Lemon said. The consolidation allowed the district to eliminate a custodial and Early Childhood teaching position, as well as office equipment.
Peters estimated the cost at about $60,000 for materials and labor for sprinkler systems and plumbing. That includes building classrooms at the Early Childhood and Family Center at Eighth and Kentucky to accommodate the Early Childhood program from 1416 Maine.
The district hopes to recoup those costs with the sale of 1421 Jersey, a white frame house across from the Quincy Junior High School athletic field. It housed the security offices, which will also move into 1416 Maine.
The sale of that building will be handled separately from 1444 Maine and the Renewal Center. The district is still waiting for an appraisal of the historic property before the board decides on a process to sell it.
Peters estimates the 1416 Maine building, which the district bought in July 1994, has about 45,300 square feet to accommodate offices that fit into about 17,000 square feet at 1444 Maine and 1,700 feet in the security building.
Of that, about 5,000 square feet is empty and available for expansion. Five classrooms and three offices, another 5,000 square feet, will be used temporarily by Teen Parent Services.
TPS also will use a basement cafeteria in what was once a parking garage. The space may become the site for future School Board meetings, Lemon said.
The new offices will accommodate the credit union, health services, payroll offices, special ed, literacy, technology, food service and the Quincy Foundation for Quality Education. There are rooms dedicated to files and other rooms for copiers. There are four conference rooms in all.
Robin Farkas of accounts payable will be one of the last to leave her windowless basement office. The rest of her department was located upstairs.
"This was a quiet place, a good place to get work done," she said. "But this is good. Our offices needed to be more organized."
Brady has been the sole occupant of 1416 Maine, answering the phone and transferring calls back to 1444 Maine. But that should change today when Lemon and his secretary Phyllis Stewart make the move.
"We're just loving it," Lemon said. "I just think it's a wise decision for us."
-- hwagner@whig.com/221-3374
