New homes

Three Indiana government agencies in Jay County have relocated.

Portland branches for the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, the Department of Child Services and the Division of Family Resources are now located at 1314 N. Meridian St. After about eight months of construction, the former Dayton Progress building has been remodeled from a machine shop to a multi-agency site.

“It’s a completely different building,” said project contractor and Marquis Builders owner Zane Martens of Berne. “It went from an industrial factory to basically an office space.”

Dayton Progress in Portland closed its doors in fall 2019 after having reported a loss in revenue for the prior four years. The facility, a branch of Dayton Lamina, manufactured punches, die retainers and custom tooling for metal stamping. About 30 employees were gradually let go starting in the summer and offered positions at the main plant in Dayton, Ohio.

The BMV opened its doors at the building for the first time Tuesday.

In November 2019 the three agencies’ lease at the strip mall on Votaw Street, 1013 W. Votaw St, abruptly ended. (The space is now occupied by Dollar Tree.)

Current landlord Jeff Laycock, who has leased to government agencies in Peru and Wabash, received a call from state officials. He began searching Portland and purchased the vacant Dayton Progress building in the next month.

It needed some changes, though, before the offices could move in for business.

“It’s been a pretty major renovation inside and out,” Laycock said. “ … it wasn't even suitable at all for office space (before).”

Contractors started work in April to convert the former manufacturing facility into several offices. New or updated additions include electrical wiring, flooring, restrooms, carpet, exterior stone walls and siding, windows, sidewalks, landscaping and heating, ventilation and air conditioning. About 30 parking spots have also been added to the lot.

“That’s what about a million dollars looks like,” Laycock said, who funded the remodeling costs and plans to continue leasing the building to the state.

Martens estimated more than 10 local contractors worked on the project.

Each office branch scrambled to find temporary locations for operations during the building remodeling. The BMV moved its office to the second floor of John Jay Center for Learning and was later relocated to the bottom floor. The Department of Child Services moved to 422 W. Race St. before the Portland Board of Zoning Appeals denied a request to rezone the house, forcing a move to the former bank site at the northwest corner of Main and Meridian streets.

All the agencies started business operations from the new location on different days. The Department of Child Services opened last week, and the Division of Family Resources moved in late last month.

Visitors to the Division of Family Resources and Department of Child Services can find their offices past the front doors of the building. Those looking for BMV services can enter from the north door.

The BMV is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The Department of Child Services and Division of Family Resources are both open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.