After a year and a half of renovations, the U.S. Forest Service has finished a $12 million remodel of the district office in downtown Petersburg. Employees’ first day of work in the building was May 12.
The largely concrete facility was built in 1972, and is a designated historic building. Richard Burke, a Forest Service engineer who worked on the remodeling project, said that meant the project had limitations.
“We couldn’t really do much with the outside to improve the looks of the building. We’re stuck with it,” he said. “But on the inside we did a full gut, and it looks totally different.”
Because of the building’s age, the agency had to pay for major safety improvements.
“We had close to $900,000 of hazardous abatements,” Burke said. “There was asbestos all over in this place.”
They also improved the building’s ventilation system.
During the remodel, staff were based out of a smaller federal building in Scow Bay, two miles south of town.
Now, back downtown, 38 people are working in the remodeled building, said District Ranger Carey Case. That includes the 12 Forest Service employees for the Petersburg District, and federal employees working for different agencies or other Forest Service districts.
Case said it’s nice to be located in a central part of Petersburg and have everyone in the same building.
There are over 50 new and improved workspaces. The building also has an improved lobby, a “ready room” for outdoor gear and a lactation room.
Case said many employees have children, and it’s been nice to have an office space welcoming to kids.
“Kids can walk here after school,” she said. “It’s nice to have that again.”
She said it was also important to the employees to preserve the small hill near the building that kids use to sled in the wintertime.
“I don’t think any of the employees wanted the sledding hill to go away,” she said.
Case said there are plans to power wash the outside of the building. They will also be installing a Forest Service sign.
