HILO, Hawaii — The three-year, $24.9 million renovation of Hawaii County's main office building is nearly finished, and dozens of employees, from Mayor Billy Kenoi to election workers, will return to the Hilo facility in mid-November.

On Oct. 30, "I plan on handing the keys to the building to the county," Brian Lakin, project engineer for general contractor Nan Inc., said last Thursday during a tour of the 25 Aupuni St. construction site.

Workers were still adding trim, connecting the rooftop solar system, cleaning and doing other work required to complete the project.

Six county departments, the County Council and the Office of the County Clerk are tentatively set to move into the building between Nov. 16 and Nov. 20, said Noelani Whittington, spokeswoman for the county Department of Public Works, which is overseeing the renovation.

The county is now soliciting offers from moving companies to do that job.

The mayor's office will return to its old space on the second floor, accompanied by the Office of Information, Office of Elections, Fire Department administration and immigration services, Whittington said.

The Finance Department, the Department of Research and Development, the County Council's chambers, the Office of the County Clerk and the reprographics division, which produces county documents, will be on the ground floor, she said.

Built in 1966, the 45,000-square-foot building served for decades as the headquarters of local government. But years of use and Hilo's rainforest environment left the building virtually unusable, if not unsafe, by the time roughly 150 employees from nine departments and the legislative branch of government moved out in December 2006.

At that time, sagging awnings had to be propped up with 2-by-4s, and the roof leaked so badly that plastic sheets were attached to the ceiling in several offices to divert water to buckets.

That shouldn't happen with the new roof made from 22-gauge zinc aluminum with a copperlike finish.

Workers and members of the public who'll use the building will be greeted first by a newly paved parking lot that features 22 stalls equipped with provisions for recharging electric vehicles the county expects to be part of its future fleet.

Ceramic tile resembling slate now covers old concrete walkways at the building entrance and on both floors.

The council's new meeting room has a carpeted floor, 76 theater-type seats, and a 60-inch, flat-screen TV. Exterior speakers will allow people waiting in the covered atrium to hear proceedings. A video room will be used to control three ceiling projectors and accompanying hidden screens (one of which is positioned so it can be seen by people outside the room) ceiling speakers, and wall-mounted cameras.

"This is pretty much the most high-tech room here," Lakin said.

Lawmakers will sit at a raised, crescent-shaped koa veneer table with monitors and microphones at each chair.

Council Chairman J Yoshimoto of Hilo said he toured the building about a month ago and feels the additions are "definite pluses."

"I'm pleased with the technology we have there," he said. "I think it will help us be more productive and efficient in the work we do."

Yoshimoto previously said that when he worked in the old building, water leaking from the roof kept dripping on his desk.

"I'm happy to be going back," he said Thursday.

Next door to the council chambers are offices for Yoshimoto, the clerk and various legislative employees, along with an interior staircase to reach the other lawmakers' second-floor offices. Most offer views of nearby Wailoa State Park and Hilo Bay.

The building has wireless Internet service, along with an interior and exterior closed-circuit security system, Lakin said.