W. Oakland building in Walled Lake to close Friday

An article by Kirk Pinho    No Comments

The West Oakland Office Building located at 1010 E. West Maple Road in Walled Lake — which at one point housed staff of the county Health Department, Probation Department of the Probate Court, the Circuit Court Family Division, and the Information Technology communication hub — is scheduled to close on Friday, Sept. 2, after the Oakland County Board of Commissioners approved the sale of the facility in April. (Spinal Column Newsweekly photo/Amy K. Lockard)

As of Friday, Sept. 2, the county’s West Oakland Office Building located at 1010 E. West Maple Road in Walled Lake will be closed.

The 17,000-square-foot, single-story building situated on 1.64 acres was at one point home to staff of the county Health Department, the Probation Department of the Probate Court, the Circuit Court Family Division, and the Information Technology communication hub.

The building’s sale, which the Oakland County Board of Commissioners approved in April in a move that’s expected to save the county hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, is expected to only minimally impact those services, county officials said earlier.

McDonald’s Corporation purchased the building for $675,000. The county expects to reap a $135,000 annual savings and realize the ability to forego $500,000 in capital improvements that were expected at the building.

Local and county officials have also pointed to the fact that the West Oakland Office Building, since it will be placed in the hands of a private company, will also be added to the local tax rolls, meaning additional revenue for the city of Walled Lake.

Residents looking for Health Department services can receive those at one of two locations — the North Oakland Health Center, located at 1200 N. Telegraph, Building 36 East in Pontiac; and the South Oakland Health Center, located at 27725 Greenfield Road in Southfield, the county reported in a press release urging residents to make sure their children are up-to-date on their immunizations before the start of the 2011-12 school year.