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| Visitors are welcomed to an open house at the new satellite office of the Bristol Country Registry of Deeds in the former downtown Attleboro Post Office on Park Street, Attleboro Friday afternoon. Northern Bristol Country Register of Deeds Barry Amaral, at right, makes a short presentation. The satellite office occupies most of the first floor of the building, located next to City Hall. The city’s election commission and the building inspectors office is also located in the building. (Staff photo by MARK
STOCKWELL)
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ATTLEBORO - The sign is up, the carpet is down, the marble floors are polished and the counters are built.
In short, the county's satellite registry of deeds in the former post office at 75 Park St. is almost ready to open.
Computers that are vital to the facility still need to be installed, along with a special phone line, but light is visible at the end of a long two-year tunnel for the project, officials said Friday at an open house.
Register of Deeds for the Northern District of Bristol County Barry Amaral said the phone line will be put in next week and computer installation and programing will follow soon after. Amaral estimates the facility will open for business sometime next month.
Mayor Kevin Dumas, who has pushed for the project since it was first announced by former Register of Deeds David Simas two years ago, said he's pleased the office is close to opening.
"We're absolutely thrilled that at this point we can open the doors and let the public see what it looks like," he said.
Dumas said the facility will not only reuse a beautiful old building that has been vacant for years, but will help revitalize downtown by bringing in foot traffic.
For a while, the project was in danger of being killed because of renovation bids that came in at almost $500,000.
When Amaral took over from Simas, who joined the administration of Gov. Deval Patrick, he and Dumas got together and decided to do most of the work in-house, which cut expenses to about $100,000.
Assistant Register of Deeds Fran McGuirk led the crew and wielded hammer and saw to help out. City workers rebuilt the parking lot.
The office will be used for real estate closings, research and document registration.
The open house was attended by state, county and local officials and members of the public.
GEORGE W. RHODES can be reached at 508-236-0432 or at grhodes@thesunchronicle.com.
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