Interior construction on the new Public Works building in Fort Mitchell is complete. The Public Works Department will begin moving into the new space at the end of this week and will continue to settle in over the next month.
In the meantime, public works laborers may be less active on the streets and roads. Mayor Jude Hehman and Public Works Director Nick Tewes explained to LINK that they wanted to be methodical and organized in moving to the new space.
“Residents, council, please be patient with Public Works,” Hehman said at the June 3, 2024 Fort Mitchell council meeting. “They moved all of their equipment out of the old building and now they’ve got to put it back in the new one.”
The old Public Works garage was built in the 1980s, according to Tewes. The department outgrew the space a long time ago. For the past several years, the department has kept some equipment outdoors, exposed to the elements, because they just didn’t have enough space inside. This renovation has been a long time coming.
“We were crammed in there,” Tewes said. “Some of our stuff was parked outside, which wasn’t the best. We’re taking it into the new century.”
Construction began on upgrades to the old Public Works building in January of 2024. Those upgrades include 2,600 square feet of extra storage space added onto the original garage, along with a breakroom for employees and four bay doors for ease of loading. Additionally, there is a storage shed behind the building that adds another 1,000 square feet. This allows for all of the department’s equipment and materials to be inside.
LINK asked Tewes what the next month looks like for Public Works.
“Hopefully, we’ll be moved in by the end of the month,” Tewes said. “We won’t be doing any major road projects right now. Any emergencies still take priority, but we’ll be reactive rather than proactive over the next month.”
Hehman and Tewes are enthusiastic that the new building will allow them to get the most out of their equipment and operate with more efficiency.