South Lanarkshire Council’s headquarters is currently closed to all staff and visitors to allow for two weeks of essential maintenance.
Electrical equipment at the neighbouring Almada Street substation is being replaced by Scottish Power Energy Networks (SPEN), with the work meaning that the main switchboard at County Buildings also needs to be replaced.
The replacement project began on Monday, with all 800 staff and councillors based at the landmark 17-storey building currently working from home or other locations until its scheduled reopening on July 24.
A council spokesperson told Lanarkshire Live: “SPEN advised the council last year of their plans to replace their existing equipment at Almada Street substation, behind the council offices.
“As this includes main switches integral to the council’s own switchboard, this will need to be replaced at the same time and will require an interruption to the power supply in the headquarters building.
“To minimise disruption to employees and services, we have arranged for the building to close for two weeks [and] staff will either work from other locations or at home during this time.”
Council officials added: “The works and office closure were scheduled for this time of year to take account of the summer recess and the numbers of staff on annual leave.”
All of the local authority’s services are continuing to run from other locations, with service information and contact details available on its website.
Scottish Power Energy Networks has been contacted for comment on the project.
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