Construction schedule for Job Center 2.0
Phase 1, Sept. 24 to December
Phase 2, January 2016 to April 2016
Phase 3, May 2016 to August 2016
Demolition began Thursday on a site near the Montgomery County Job Center to make room for a parking lot and other upgrades.
A hydraulic excavator, using its digging bucket, started tearing down the abandoned warehouse and distribution center behind the Job Center and the St. Vincent de Paul thrift store along Edwin C. Moses Boulevard.
The former Concord foods property is being cleared to make way for a new parking area, bus shelter and bus route as part of a major overhaul to the Job Center.
The $7 million in planned upgrades to the facility seek to improve navigation and the customer experience, make service delivery more efficient and integrate some programs and systems, officials said.
“It’s been 18 years since we’ve had a significant update to the Job Center,” said Tom Kelley, the director of the Department of Job & Family Services. “It’s clearly time for an update.”
Demolition of the Concord property will take about two weeks to complete. A highly visible smoke stack should be removed in about seven to 14 days.
The demolition, which will cost about $256,360, officially kicks off the Job Center 2.0 project and will make way for new customer parking at the Job Center.
Also, it will allow for the relocation of the Greater Dayton RTA bus stop from the northeast corner of the center to behind St. Vincent de Paul, said Robert Gruhl, deputy director of the Montgomery County Department of Job & Family Services.
“This will be a roundabout for the bus path,” he said. “It will provide much better safety for the consumer, and it will provide easier access to the building.”
Currently, the Job Center has a single main access point, where visitors congregate, wait in line and often are directed to service areas deeper within the building.
Officials said clients often do not know where to go and can get confused or lost because of inadequate and ineffective signage and wayfinding.
But the Job Center will be transformed by the fall of 2016.
The redesign will create storefront entrances for specific programs and service needs, including child support, the Youth Resource Center, Senior Services, the Job Mall and OhioMeansJobs and workforce development.
Improved signage and wayfinding are key components of the overhaul.
“We’re trying to de-institutionalize the footprint,” Gruhl said.
Visitors will be able to park near the storefronts of the services they require for easy access, and dedicated parking will be added for Senior Services and other clients.
The Job Center 2.0 project seeks to make service delivery far more convenient, officials said.
Cashier windows and scanner kiosks will be placed upfront at entry points so people can drop in and get out quickly, officials said. Scanning areas will not require visitors to obtain special passes, which are needed to access the bowels of the building.
Also, upfront communal meeting rooms will allow for in-person interviews. A cuing system will tell clients when they are called and direct them to the right interview room.
“This simplifies the approach of the customer in gaining access to the building, and I think it will be a more amenable approach to handling customers,” said Kelley.
Phase 1 of the Job Center 2.0 construction project is expected to begin on Sept. 24.
The first segment of construction will focus on the northeast part of the building, which will be the new home to OhioMeansJobs and workforce development services.
Over the weekend, about 70 Job & Family Services employees will move temporarily to the Reibold Building downtown, officials said.
Next week, staff impacted by phase 1 of the construction will move into the space vacated by the relocated employees.
About 500 Job & Family Services employees work at the Job Center, and about 140 will be added when the project is completed next fall.
The Child Support Enforcement division will be moving to the Job Center from its current home at the Reibold Building.
The project, when completed, will better serve Job Center customers and substantially improve the workspace, said Debbie Lieberman, president of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners.
The county leases 144,000 square feet of space at the Job Center from St. Vincent de Paul.
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