After nearly a year and a half of planning and waiting, Troy City Schools will finally begin moving into its new central office today.

TCS officials had a building walkthrough Thursday, and were given the approval to begin the move-in at that time.

“Now, we can proceed with the moving process, and we’ll start that Friday and continue working on it Saturday as well,” said TCS superintendent Linda Felton-Smith.

“We will still have some things remaining at the old building, so we will be working out of both buildings for at least a few more days.”

Phone and computer systems will be the first things moved so that TCS staff will have the ability to receive phone calls and provide support from the new building immediately.

“Starting tomorrow, we’ll likely be taking calls from both locations and doing the best we can with that,” Felton-Smith said. “If people need anything, they will be able to report to us in person at the new building.”

Felton-Smith first appeared before the Troy City Council in February 2009 to ask that part of the former National Army Reserve Center on Elba Highway be conveyed for a new central office, and now, the office is a reality.

Not only is the new office finally ready, but TCS will likely also be able to meet its goal of being moved in to the new office by the start of the 2010-11 school year.

“We’ve been working for quite some time and hoping we would be finished by the start of school,” Felton-Smith said.

“We had certain key dates in mind when we started this process, and the start of school was certainly one of those.”

However, the timely move would not have been possible without the efforts of Whaley Construction.

“We’re certainly very appreciative of the work that Whaley Construction has done to get us in before school starts,” Felton-Smith said.

“They brought people in, and gave us all their possible effort to help us get in. It was a goal for us for a long time, and now it’s a reality.”

Whaley was awarded the bid after its low bid of $1,159,000, with the funding for the bid coming from a 2007 state-issued bond.

A new central office had been a long-time desire for TCS, and Felton-Smith said the new office will be a big addition.

“We do have an office now with an improved amount of space that will really allows us to be more productive in what we do,” Felton-Smith said.

“The staff is excited. They’re looking forward to spending Saturday getting this office ready to provide services for teachers, students, parents and the rest of the community.”

TCS will hold INSTITUTE Tuesday, after which it will turn its full attention to getting settled in the new office.

“We would like to be fully moved into the new building by August 6 so that we can be there when school starts August 9,” Felton-Smith said.

“We would just encourage the people of the community to work with us in this transition, and be patient while we try to get this move done.”