Kinkead workers may start moving by end of November

The Kinkead Building should be empty and dark forever by mid-December.

Workers there were told a couple of weeks ago their long-awaited move could be delayed up to 75 more days. But Conway Communications cut two weeks off the estimated completion date by doubling the crew wiring the offices. Conway general manager John Compston said they installed almost 47 miles of cable in the two buildings, providing phone and data connections for 550 work stations.

He said the only task remaining for them is to "follow the furniture people," putting those connections into the modular furniture being installed by Reno Business Interiors.

Mike Torvinen, of Human Resources, said the only thing that could hold up completion is a piece of electronic equipment AT&T needs to install so the offices can tie in to the state computer system. He said it's been ordered but hasn't arrived yet.

"Once that's installed, anybody who's had their furniture installed will be able to move," he said.

The new offices will enable the state to finally vacate and board up the Kinkead Building. Located a block east of the Capitol, inspectors say Kinkead has hundreds of safety and code violations. Its sloping floors and chunks of concrete falling from the ceilings have drawn complaints from workers there for years.

Mike Meizel, former head of the Buildings and Grounds for the state, once described Kinkead as the worst building the state ever built. He said he tried for years to get it condemned.

It was an engineering report two years ago saying a major earthquake could cause Kinkead to collapse which increased protests and, finally, drew attention from the governor's office and Legislature. They agreed to spend about $1 million to remodel the Harley-Davidson buildings for Human Resources employees and shut down Kinkead.

But that move had been delayed several times for a variety of reasons.

Most recently, Torvinen said it would take more than two months extra to finish the phone and data cable wiring.

Compston said Conway doubled its crew doing the wiring to cut that delay as much as possible. He said they will keep up with furniture installers to finish the connections as quickly as possible.

Torvinen said he hopes to have all 350 human resources workers moved out of the Kinkead Building by Dec. 15.

John Thompson, of Jet Construction, said Rural Clinics has already made the move. He said they have been in the Technology Way offices for about two weeks because they don't need the computer connections the Health, Mental Health and Disabled Services divisions and director's office of Health and Human Resources require.

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