LOWVILLE, New York (WWNY) – A day of celebration for Lewis County – its renovated and modernized human services building is ready to welcome back its employees, who are temporarily providing services from the former Glenfield Elementary School.
Former Department of Social Services commissioner Penny LaBarge is getting her first look at Lewis County’s new human services department. She worked at the old building for nearly four decades..
“It is just kind of overwhelming, you know, this building. I’m amazed at everything that they have done here and the size of it hasn’t changed. It’s just perfect,” she said.
On Thursday, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held to debut the renovated and modernized building.
DSS Commissioner Jennifer Jones says this moment is unreal.
“I remember they said everything is going to match, and I said that’s just not possible. We’ve never had anything matching. We’ve had WWII desks and hand-me-downs,” she said.
Jones says the county had looked at renovating the building for more than a decade, but it wasn’t until three years ago that pieces started to fall into place to get the job done.
“A 40-year-old building is pretty old, but it has so many upgrades for our employees and for our visitors that are coming to get services that they need in Lewis County,” said Jones.
The new building will house the DSS, Office for the Aging and Community Services.
County Manager Ryan Piche says 80 employees will work in the building, in a mixture of cubicles and offices.
Some of the perks of the new cubicles include sliding doors, which will provide some privacy, especially beneficial for caseworkers.
Other new amenities of the building include a children’s interview room, a conference room specifically for employees and families to meet in, and a break room with an outdoor patio.
The staff hopes to be fully moved in by Friday.
Copyright 2023 WWNY. All rights reserved.
