Aceremonial turning of the first sod on the new $10m office in Millicent for Wattle Range Council was held on Tuesday morning.
Watching Mayor Des Noll break the ground with a shovel were 10 council staff members, three representatives from building firm Mossop Constructions and the media.
The council contingent included such long-serving staff as Deb O’Connor and some newcomers.
The builder was represented by regional manager Craig Williamson, project manager Megan Redman and site supervisor Damian Spencer.
An exact starting date will be announced after the signing of the contracts and this is expected in the coming weeks.
When building is in full swing, up to 50 workers will be on site at any one time.
The North Terrace site formerly housed tennis/netball courts and has been a grassed area for several years.
Clubrooms and toilets for these sports were erected in the 1980s and will be demolished.
The $10m price tag means it is the most expensive project in the 27-year history of Wattle Rage Council.
In dollar terms, it will be the second-most expensive building project ever in Millicent and only exceeded by the $15m expansion of Boneham Aged Care Services which was completed in 2018.
Later in the day, council met and approved a grant-funded $0.7m upgrade to the Millicent War Memorial Civic and Arts Centre and also considered a staff report which estimated the cost for a concrete re-build of the Millicent swimming lake to be almost $8m.
