Second phase of new H&E building construction is underway

Bob Young says the H&E building has served its purpose, but now it’s time to build a newer facility. (WJEZ File Photo)

By Patrick Baron

PONTIAC – The Health and Education building in Pontiac will need to be rebuilt due to structural flaws in the building.

Livingston County Board Chair Bob Young discussed the process behind making the decision with WJEZ’s Todd Wineburner. He said the county wanted to make sure the building couldn’t be salvaged before they decided to scrap it.

“We have Farnsworth hired and they did a preliminary study to see if there’s any buildings in the city of Pontiac that can be rehabbed or if we could rehab the old H&E building to make it a real functional building,” said Young. “It all came back ‘no’, that the best thing to do was to go ahead and build.”

Young explained now the county is in the “second phase” of the project. He said that includes drawing up the plans for the future H&E building, which puts the county in a better position to start constructing the new building sooner rather than later.

“We authorized, after much discussion, Farnsworth to go ahead with the second phase – the schematic design,” Young said. “They got permission at a cost of around forty-some thousand to go along with this second phase, so it’s drawing us closer to the building process.”

Young said when the H&E building was first constructed, it was well built and served its purpose. Now, he says, it’s time to make a change that will improve the working conditions of the employees and make it more comfortable for people who use the building’s services.

Patrick Baron can be reached at [email protected].