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By Dana Kazel
In 2020, St. Louis County completed a significant investment to serve residents in the Virginia area, replacing the deteriorating Northland Office Building with the new Government Services Center-Virginia. Due to the pandemic, the County never held a ribbon cutting to celebrate this $20+ million facility.
On Tuesday, February 25, the county will host two special events at the GSC-Virginia, 201 South 3rd Avenue, to highlight the project and building. The public is welcome and encouraged to attend.
Beginning at 1:30 p.m., county leaders will host a news conference in the Liz Prebich Conference Room, and then will open a time capsule that was removed from the former Northland Office Building. The time capsule has been in storage since its discovery and its contents, more than a century old, will be revealed for the first time at the opening. An additional time capsule was located in the former Odd Fellows Hall when it was removed to make way for the project. This time capsule was previously opened privately, and its contents will be displayed publicly for the first time.
Following the opening of the time capsule, the County will host an open house with guided tours at the GSC-Virginia from 2-4 p.m. to give the public an inside look at the building and the many services available at it. County departments that offer services in this building include Public Health and Human Services, the Auditors Office, Assessors, Recorders, Planning and Zoning, Economic and Community Development, Environmental Service, Veterans Service, and Extension.
The Government Services Center-Virginia took 16 months to build and opened to the public in the fall of 2019. Demolition of the Northland Office Building began immediately after that, with the final project phases, including the parking lot and landscaping completed in 2020.
The two-story, 63,000 square foot building was designed to be extremely energy efficient. At the time it was built, it included the largest solar installation on any office building in Minnesota. It also includes geo-thermal heating and cooling, LED lighting and other features to reduce operational costs.
Additionally, the building features numerous artistic elements inspired by the Iron Range, including landscaping, local materials and art throughout the building.
The layout of the building was designed for improved service efficiencies between county departments that often work together. Currently more than 275 employees work out of the GSC-Virginia on a full- or part-time basis.
