IT employees won't be moved into Kinkead Building

Nevada Department of Information Technology workers concerned about rumors that some of them would be moved into the Kinkead Building while the computer center expansion continues can relax.

According to technology department Deputy Director Mark Blomstrom, it's not going to happen.

"The idea was considered briefly," he said. "Very briefly."

The technology department already has about 40 people on the fourth floor of the problem-riddled Kinkead Building. They, like more than 350 human resources workers in the six-story structure, are hoping to get out as soon as possible.

Kinkead has been described as the worst building Nevada's state government ever built. The former head of buildings and grounds said he tried for years to get it condemned. There are hundreds of safety issues in the building, and engineers say a major seismic event could cause it to collapse.

Technology department director Terry Savage said this month he was hoping to move out the 40 workers he has there by March 1 into a remodeled space at 400 W. King St.

But with contractors struggling to build an addition to the state's computing center behind the Department of Education Building, moving some of those employees into Kinkead was suggested as a way of simplifying logistical problems caused by that project. The state is renovating the existing 14,400-square-foot computer center and building a 9,000-square-foot addition.

But the center must continue operating during construction and renovation, Blomstrom said.

"We've been moving people and equipment around within the existing building in kind of a shell-game fashion."

It would be much simpler to just move some of those people out while the work is being finished.

"We've got a lot of open space in Kinkead, and we momentarily took a look at that," he said. "That's not going to happen. That's going in the wrong direction."

Renovation of the 34-year-old computer center was approved by the Legislature. When completed in September, it will provide a modern home for both the department's mainframe computer systems and office space for some 60 department employees, including a number now in Kinkead.

Until that is ready, all of the staff in Kinkead will be relocated to King Street as early as March.

The human resources workers in Kinkead are also waiting for their new offices - in the former Harley-Davidson Financial buildings on Technology Way - to be ready. If that happens on schedule, Kinkead should be dark by June.

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