Berrien County Health Department relocating

Berrien County is putting five parcels of land up for sale soon and the health department is moving to a new location in March. 

Officials hope the consolidated department will save taxpayers thousands of dollars in the long run.

The new department will be located in the 2100 block of East Napier Avenue by Lake Michigan College at the I-94 intersection.

Gillian Conrad, a communications specialist at the Berrien County Health Department said this has been in the works for months. 

Conrad said, “All the clinics will be in one space, all the offices will be in one space, and this will really just be a lot easier for our public for our consumers for our patients as they are accessing our services.”

Conrad said, “It was a couple million dollars that they've spent buying the building, and then rehabbing it because it was a former car dealership so you can imagine some of the rehab work that needed to be done.”

Administrator William Wolfe said they want to get the main building on Pipestone back into the community as soon as possible. They are accepting proposals for the sale of the main building through February 4th. In 2011 the building was appraised for $315,000 but officials said making money on it is not a priority right now. Wolfe said they are trying to get it sold soon.

Conrad said, “As well as a little bit easier for taxpayers since we'll have only one light bill and one utility bill rather than having to service 5 different buildings.”

As for the other four parcels of land, the county is searching for a real estate broker.

 

One property is the STD/HIV clinic on Pipestone and the county is asking for a minimum of $75,000. The second is the substance abuse prevention center, and the county is accepting a minimum of $20,000

 

The third is the environmental health offices on M-139 and they hope to get $435,000 for it. There is also a vacant lot on Startlite Drive the county is trying to get on the market.

 

Berrien County is accepting sealed proposals until 3p.m. on January 14^th. For more information visit the health department's website.