1/14/2010
CHARLESTON, W.Va – West Virginia Secretary of Administration Robert Ferguson today said a cooperative effort among the Department of Administration’s Real Estate and General Services divisions, the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety (MAPS), the Department of Education and the Arts and West Virginia State University will use the former Rehabilitation Center in Institute to accommodate several new tenants, including the Regional Jail Authority, the Division of Juvenile Services, and the Division of Correction’s Work Release Program.
Additional state agencies and educational organizations are expected to be relocated to this facility in the upcoming months.
The Division of Rehabilitation Services and the Southern Community and Technical College are currently the sole tenants in this facility, utilizing approximately 160,000 square feet of this 465,000 square foot facility. The Rehabilitation Center consists of a total of 11 individual buildings.
“The agencies that will be relocated to the Rehabilitation Center currently lease space in the private market,” said Charles Lawrence, Executive Director of the Real Estate Division. “By consolidating various state agencies at this location, it better utilizes the assets that the state already owns.”
Because the Rehabilitation Center is adjacent to West Virginia State University’s campus, the location of state agencies in the center presents opportunities to leverage academic partnerships with the university.
WVSU President Dr. Hazo Carter said he appreciates the Department of Administration having an interest in the growth and development of West Virginia State University. “I am confident that we will successfully work together for the future development of the university’s campus master plan,” Carter said.
Lawrence added that consolidating state agencies within the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety at this location will reduce redundancies in space requirements, including conference rooms, common eating areas, and rest room facilities. This action will offer a more efficient use of the space, while reducing square footage space requirements of the agencies.
Joe Thornton, acting secretary of Military Affairs and Public Safety, said that moving some administrative offices and the work-release program to the Institute location will make for an efficient and centralized operation for this region of the state.
“The Rehabilitation Center is an ideal location that will allow our staff and work release program participants – who have been working in area businesses, including with private industry, the Division of Highways and some of our colleges – convenient access to a more centralized location.”
The work release program has been housed in a downtown Charleston location near Appalachian Power Park since 1996; however, the property owner plans to use that space for another tenant’s expansion of operations. The program had also been seeking another location to take advantage of federal grants.
Approximately 85 employees from Regional Jail Authority, the Division of Juvenile Services, and the Division of Correction’s Work Release program will be affected by this utilization plan of the Rehabilitation Center. Real Estate Division officials expect to have the facility ready by summer.
Contact Information
Diane Holley Brown
304-558-0661