Aug. 22--Fewer than 10 miles separate Garden City's old City Hall and its new municipal headquarters off Dean Forest Road, just south of Interstate 16.

But take a glance inside each structure, and light years may be a more suitable unit of measurement.

"This is something we can really be proud of," police chief David Lyons said Friday, strolling through the new building's marble-tiled, wood-paneled interior. "It's been a long time coming, and we're glad to be at this point. We're thrilled to death with the building."

Friday marked a watershed moment in Garden City's relocation project, as city staff members hauled the last filing cabinets, printer stands and other office furniture out of the aging Ga. 25 building that was sold two years ago to the Georgia Ports Authority.

Officials, meanwhile, continued settling into the sleek and sprawling new digs on the south side of town, an opulent structure that will be officially unveiled at a ceremony later this fall.

"It's worked out very well -- it's been a group effort," relocation coordinator Blanche Butler said of the move-out. "We've gotten it all done in two days. Everyone worked together to make it a smooth transition."

City Manager Brian Johnson said that despite 105 city employees picking up and moving out, public services have been largely uninterrupted.

"We're really only down for face-to-face business one day," Johnson said Friday. "And that's today."

Telephone lines were re-routed to public works offices, he said, and utility bills were being processed as usual.

At 33,000 square feet, the $7 million new building -- next to Food Lion and across from the Southbridge subdivision -- nearly doubles available space.

Offices are plentiful and spacious; flat-screen television monitors are mounted inside the main lobby and courtroom, where cushioned seats will accommodate 180 people.

Johnson, however, said such "stately governmental aura" is limited to portions intended for the public.

Offices and meeting rooms are of simpler design, he said, and are built with future growth in mind. "We put more money in the public spaces as opposed to back-of-house," Johnson said. "We wanted something our residents are proud of and can say, 'Yeah -- that's our City Hall.'"

RENOVATIONS PLANNED AT OLD CITY HALL: The Georgia Ports Authority, which purchased the Ga. 25 facility for $3.39 million in 2007, aims to renovate and later house various offices at the building, spokesman Robert Morris said Friday.

Among other measures, the agency will replace the building's roof, windows and electrical system, as well as refurbish its interior and add parking, Morris said.

Eventually, it will be occupied by Ports police and offices for employee health services, credentialing and credit union.

"We're still in the design status, and it's going to require a little bit of work," Morris said. "But it was a great effort to work out an agreement that was good for everybody, and we're glad it turned out the way that it did."

Morris noted the property's location -- "right in the middle of our operation" -- as a foremost asset.

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