WILTON — The Maine Department of Transportation will be moving its Western Region offices from Dixfield to Wilton now that the department has bought a commercial building on U.S. Route 2.

The state closed on the 12,000-square-foot building earlier this month for a total cost of $475,000, according to Norman Haggan, regional manager. The 10-year-old building is next to Hammond Lumber.

While the transportation garage will remain in use at the Dixfield location, about 45 employees, including clerical staff and engineers, will be moving to the Wilton location once renovation of the building is complete, Haggan said.

The new location will be more centrally located in the area the Western Region covers, Haggan said. The regional office conducts and oversees road and transportation projects from Waterford, through Turner and up through Skowhegan.

Haggan said the offices at the Dixfield site were out of date and in need of repair. He said it would have been more costly for the transportation department to bring the existing offices up to code than to buy a new building outright.

“We’ve been talking about it for several years, to be more centrally located in the region and to upgrade the building,” Haggan said.

The new location is about a 20-minute drive from the current one at 547 Main St. in Dixfield.

Haggan said more offices will be made inside the new space, along with an upgrade to the heating and air-conditioning system.

He said he expects the renovation will be done this winter, with the staff moving in by the summer of 2017. The Dixfield building will be torn down after the move.

Lauren Abbate — 861-9252

labbate@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @Lauren_M_Abbate

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