RUMFORD — In this, the 100th year of the Rumford Town Hall, a changeover will be getting underway to create a much larger central office.

Work on an eight-week project will begin Monday. On that day, town offices will be closed, but the building will remain open for district court.

Executive Secretary Terri Palmer said there will be a sign on the front door Monday asking people to use the River Street entrance to get to court. The elevator is at that level.

To make room for the bulk of the work to be done, offices in the town hall, except for the assessor’s office, will be moving.

Town Manager John Madigan said the game plan is to make sure everybody will be able to do most of their town business by going through the River Street side and using the Police Department entrance.

At that lower level, Tom Bourret, the tax collector, is going where the code enforcement officer is. Town Clerk Beth Bellegarde is moving to the conference room.

Treasurer Debbie Laurinaitis is moving her office to where the tax collector’s office is now. Madigan and Palmer are moving their offices upstairs near the Rumford Falls Auditorium in the office that once housed General Assistance.

On April 21, the Board of Selectmen approved the low bid of $70,000 by H.E. Callahan Construction of Auburn for the project, which Madigan indicated was “pretty much what we estimated.”

Madigan said that according to the contract, “they’re supposed to be done by June 23.”

The end result will be that the public can do business in one joint office, similar to the set-up at the Mexico Town Office.

Madigan said this will also provide flexibility to the Town Office staff, who will be cross-trained for the various services. He added that the town might even realize a savings in the long term with this set-up.

“When this is all done, everybody can start moving back in,” Madigan said, “then we can start another 100 years of this building.” 

bfarrin@sunmediagroup.net

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