The city of Port Arthur is on track to complete its “one-stop shop” for the Department of Developmental Services by the fourth quarter of 2019.

Assistant City Manager Ron Burton said Friday abatement for asbestos and lead paint on the building, which is one story with about 14,000 square feet, is complete. So is the internal plumbing on the building, which is stripped down to a shell at the corner of Fourth Street and Dallas Avenue, on City Hall property and adjacent to the U.S. Postal Service.

“They’ve torn off the roof and they’re getting a new one,” Burton said. “After that, they’ll concentrate on the interior and partitioning into offices.”

Burton said the building would include departments for inspection and permits, planning and zoning, geographic information services, housing and neighborhood revitalization, grants and code enforcement. In total, more than 40 people will work in that building. Most of those individual departments are located either in City Hall or at the City Hall annex now.

The idea, Burton said, is for the building to be set up so that someone who is interested in developing a site can be served by all applicable departments under one roof.

He said there’s an upside for the city, too: Departments that work closely together by function can be placed in closer proximity to each other. That, he said, is a boost to efficiency.

The building was conveyed from Jefferson County to the city several years ago with the understanding it would house the Department of Developmental Services. It used to house adult probation and indigent health services for the county government, two services that are now housed in a newer facility nearer the Museum of the Gulf Coast. It has been empty for about four years.

“We asked them for it and they were generous,” Burton said.

The completed building will cost about $2.5 million.

Contractor for the building is G&G Enterprises, located at the 501 Building on Procter Street in downtown Port Arthur.

Burton said there have been some delays for inclement weather, holidays and acquiring the steel needed in the building. He said a tariff has made it more difficult to get steel.

“We have no control over that,” Burton said. “That is the global economy.”

Burtons said a city “construction team” has been meeting biweekly to discuss the building and its progress. The team makes sure that projects stay on time.

Parking will be available both in the City Hall parking lot and on Dallas Avenue.