$500,000 revamp of Whanganui District Council customer services area complete, open to the public on May 3

Five months after it began, the $500,000 revamp of Whanganui District Council's customer services area is complete. Photo / Bevan Conley

The $500,000 revamp of the Whanganui District Council's customer services area is complete and the doors will reopen to the public on Friday, May 3.

The modernisation project began in November 2018 and meant that mayor Hamish McDouall, chief executive Kym Fell and their staff moved to Heritage House.

Council meetings will continue to be held there on St Hill Street as construction continues on the council building's first-floor mezzanine area.

Fell said the council customer services team will need an opportunity to get used to the new floor plan, processes and technology prior to the opening.

"We're all looking forward to welcoming our community into this area very soon," he said.

"Our priority has been to create a totally customer-focused environment and we want it to be based on interactions, rather than transactions.

"The space has been re-designed to enable visitors to access council services and advice as easily as possible and we have introduced some new systems and tools to help with this."

The customer services team have been working from council's infrastructure building on St Hill Street and will have access back at the Guyton St building before the end of April.

The design was undertaken by Dalgleish Architects who reorganised the space to reflect modern business practice while recognising the original 1960s design.

The council building at 101 Guyton St was designed in 1965 and opened in 1968.