BUCKFIELD – Winter’s severe weather put construction a little behind schedule, but officials at Oxford Networks plan to move the first employees into their new downtown Lewiston office building in a little more than a week.

About 25 customer service employees will leave their Center Street office in Auburn on Aug. 21 for their new digs in Lisbon Street’s revived southern gateway project. The telecommunications company had hoped to open at its new location in May, but construction delays pushed that back.

A handful of people will come from the Portland and Norway offices, which will remain open, according to Oxford Networks President Rick Anstey. The Center Street office will close. Between 25 and 30 employees from the company’s home office in Buckfield will make the trek to Lewiston. The majority of Buckfield-based employees – about 70 – will continue to work from the 104-year-old company headquarters.

“We’re here to stay,” said Anstey.

The Buckfield office will continue as an operations center, as well as the base for all its tool-carrying employees. It will also maintain its customer service function.

“From the customers’ perspective, it will seem the same as always,” said Anstey.

He said the company plans to continue calling the Buckfield office its headquarters, even though the corporate offices will be in Lewiston.

“I think there is some sentimentality or nostalgia there,” he said, “it does have a lot to do with it.”

Right now, the company plans to keep its Buckfield exchange as its main number. One of the benefits of being a telecommunications firm is the ability to answer its phones from anywhere, said Anstey.

“The main number, 336-9911, has been our number for decades,” he said. “But we answer that number today in Auburn.”

All the employees should make the transition to the new office by mid-September. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned for 10 a.m. Sept. 9, followed by an open house for the public at 5 p.m.

The new Oxford Networks building is part of a $20 million revitalization of the lower end of Lisbon Street. Its 17,000-square-foot, three-story building anchors the complex; neighbor Andover College is already open and plans are under way for a Northeast Bank building.