JACKSON MOVES THREE CITY OFFICES INTO FUTURE CITY HALL

JACKSON -- Three city offices have moved into the former Jackson Exchange Bank, which will become the new Jackson city office administrative complex. Remaining city offices will not move into the building until 1995.

On Monday, the public works office, the office of construction services, and the office of developmental services and inspections officially opened on the second floor of the building at West Main and Court streets.

The openings coincided with the start of a 24-hour emergency services telephone number (243-2300) for electric, water and sewer customers in Jackson.

"We didn't have any choice," said Mayor Paul Sander. "We urgently needed more office space. With the addition of our new public works director, Mark Brown, and his staff, and the arrival of Larry Koenig as office manager and personnel director, we were completely out of space at the city hall-library building on South High Street. For a while it was so bad that Larry had to use the city council chamber for his office."

The city purchased the Jackson Exchange building in March 1993 from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. for $250,000, after the now-defunct Exchange Bank Corp. ran into financial difficulties and closed.

The first floor is occupied by Boatmen's Bank of Jackson. Boatmen's is preparing to begin work on its new building on West Main.

Robbie Roberts, director of developmental services and building inspections, and Randy Reisenbichler, director of construction services, are also on the second floor. The entrance is on the south side of the building, facing Main Street.

Brown said the 24-hour emergency services number is for calls relating to problems with electrical, water or sewer services in Jackson. He said: "This is just another effort on the part of Jackson to serve our citizens more quickly and efficiently. In the past, when an emergency came up, you had to look in the phone book and call the office and hope that someone was there.

Meanwhile, planning for the renovation of the building continues. Sander said a select committee appointed last year is meeting with architect John Dudley to finalize floor plans and the location of city offices.

"As soon as Boatmen's moves into their new building, we'll be ready to begin the renovation work," the mayor said. "The only question that has not been resolved at this point is the status of our public library.

"Studies are now under way by the Missouri Library Board to evaluate the feasibility of whether or not the existing public library could be utilized in a more efficient manner if it expanded to the city offices that will become vacant on the basement level. Representatives of the library board were in town this week to look over the current city hall-library building on South High Street," said Sander.

"No decision has been made on whether the library will stay put or move with us to the new city hall complex. That decision will ultimately be made by the Board of Aldermen, with a recommendation from our city library board," he said.

Sander said the city is not pressuring Boatmen's to vacate the building. The bank has options to renew its lease with the city through next year, he said.

Pat Ferrell of Boatmen's said construction of the new main banking facility on West Main a few blocks west of the courthouse square is scheduled to begin in late spring.

She said: "We've experienced a lengthy delay waiting for permits from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to remove asbestos from a house located on the tract. The asbestos has now been removed, and soil tests around the house are under way.

"We're extremely anxious to get started so we can move into our new building as soon as possible. We'd like to think we could be in it before the end of the year, but a more realistic estimate is sometime next spring," Ferrell said.