The Haywood County plans to renovate the formers Bargains building on Russ Avenue near K-Mart to house Haywood County Board of Elections, an adult day care program, a wellness center, additional office space and warehouse storage space.

The county commissioners are currently accepting bids from architects. The 12,000-square-foot building was once a flooring and carpeting retail store. The cavernous warehouse-style building must be remodeled on the inside to accommodates offices, and will require roof replacement and façade improvements.

“This is a rather small project in the scheme of things,” said Commissioner Michael Sorrells.

The Bargains building has been empty for eight years. It was bought by the now-defunct Council on Aging, which built an office complex on the adjacent lot to house its nonprofit operations. When the nonprofit folded, the county took over the office complex, and the empty Bargains building came with it.

Architects should submit qualifications, experience renovating commercial buildings, experience working on government construction projects, a tentative timeline for project completion and estimated costs. All applications should be sent to Dale Burris, director of Facilities and Maintenance.