Kinkead Building to be dark by June

The Kinkead Building, which has been described as the worst office building the state ever constructed, could be empty and dark by June.

The first of two leases, which will provide new office space so state workers can move out of the structurally unsafe building, was approved by the Nevada Board of Examiners last week.

Department of Information Technology employees could leave the fourth floor of the state's troubled Kinkead Building as early as March 1 - if their new space is ready.

"There's some question whether we can get all the improvements done by then, but as soon as it is, we're headed out," Department Director Terry Savage said Friday.

He said most of those employees will move to the former Public Employee Benefits Program offices 400 W. King St. The rest will go to the computer center expansion now under construction behind the Department of Education Building.

Cindy Edwards, head of Buildings and Grounds, said a small group of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation workers on Kinkead's fifth floor will move in with co-workers on Curry Street in the near future.

The rest of the six-story building is occupied by 350 Department of Human Resources workers.

The Board of Examiners and Interim Finance Committee voted in November to move them to the former Harley-Davidson buildings on Technology Way in North Carson.

Edwards said the lease for those buildings should be considered at a Board of Examiners agenda in early February.

That will pave the way for a move sometime in May. But, like DOIT's move, she said that depends on contractors finishing the remodeling needed to accommodate Human Resources in the two Harley-Davidson buildings.

Former Buildings and Grounds chief Mike Meizel said he has tried to get the Kinkead Building condemned for years.

The decision to empty the building came after years of employees battling problems ranging from sloping floors and falling concrete from the ceiling to fire and earthquake safety concerns. Engineers have warned the building, located a block east of the Capitol and state Library buildings, could collapse in a severe quake.

Savage said he is pleased with the move.

"Some of my employees really did have ergonomic problems from the slanted floors and other problems with the building," he said.

He said his workers will begin preparing for the move in a couple of weeks.

-- Contact reporter Geoff Dornan at gdornan@nevadaappeal.com or 687-8750.