Cedar Rapids City Services Center open to public Wednesday

CEDAR RAPIDS - Residents can turn out Wednesday for a tour of the city's new $36 million City Services Center at 500 15th Ave. SW.

The open house will run from 4 to 7 p.m. A dedication ceremony will take place at 4:30 p.m. in the building lobby.

The new center replaces the flood-damaged Public Works Facility, which sat in a different configuration on the same property. The old facility had been a crane manufacturing plant before the city moved into it in the late 1980s.

Maria Johnson, the city's Communications Division manager, said the new facility is energy efficient and operationally efficient in that it allows the city to house all of its public works equipment in one spot and move it around the building easily.

The building is 400,000 square feet, 60,000 square feet of which is office space for public works, solid waste and recycling, building services, parks and recreation, city assessor, fleet services, information technology and wellness and safety.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency provided $18.5 million for the building, I-JOBS provided $5 million, and the city covered the remaining $12.5 million.