Zebulon — Public Works Director Chris Ray said the Zebulon Municipal Complex should serve as a one-stop shop for local citizens.

At the old Wakelon school building, one will be able to pay bills, sign a child up for summer camp and file for a building permit, all in one convenient trip.

Renovation of the building, which began in April, is still on schedule for its anticipated January, 2009 completion. Ray said the renovation is roughly 30 percent complete.

When entering the building from the Arendell Avenue side, planning and finance offices will be located to the left and right, respectively. Toward the rear, or the west side of the building, the mayor’s and parks and recreation offices will be located to the left and right.

Upstairs will be the offices of the town manager and clerk, as well as a lobby for the assembly room, which will also be located upstairs and toward the front of the building.

The assembly room also has a lounge built alongside. Ray said rather than give those in attendance at town meetings the boot when going into closed session, town commissioners will now take a short walk of their own.

Spare offices are in place throughout the building, ready for use as town staff grows with the area.

Ray said the renovations are geared toward saving as many reusable items as possible — like doors, framing, HVAC components, ceiling tiles and grids, windows and virtually everything inside the restrooms.

The future police department is undergoing quite a facelift, as well.

A new lobby, an extension from the front of the building, will create extra space for administration and provide a larger public waiting area through which citizens can not pass without an escort.

“It’s significantly larger and more open for the officers,” Ray said. The current police department, at roughly 4,500 sq. ft., will triple in size in the new building, also sized for anticipated growth, at around 15,000 square feet.

The new department will also house three rooms for interviewing — one geared toward children, — men’s and women’s locker rooms, a fitness center and training room and 12 built-in cubicles for officers in the main area of the building.

“It will be a much better flowing and functioning building,” Ray said.

As for setbacks in all the projects to this point, Ray said he is pleased that nothing has been too much to bear.

“In renovations like these we always worry about the unforeseen problems, but so far we have found very few of those,” Ray said.