HILO, Hawai'i — It was moving day yesterday for the last of about 140 Hawai'i County government employees who are vacating the landmark County Building in Hilo to prepare for a two-year renovation project that includes fixing the roof and removing asbestos.

The county expects to spend about $20 million renovating the building, and another $2.83 million on asbestos removal, said Noelani Whittington, community outreach specialist for the county Department of Public Works.

County Managing Director Dixie Kaetsu was packing boxes for the move yesterday and said she will be glad to work from an office that is reliably dry. A leaky roof is no joke in a town that receives an average of more than 130 inches of rainfall a year.

Kaetsu and her son spent part of last weekend setting buckets on the floor to catch leaks in the building, and mopping up rain that soaked parts of the offices of both Big Island Mayor Harry Kim and Kaetsu.

Upholstered chairs at the conference table in Kim's office were soaked, and Kaetsu said she finally resorted to covering her desktop computer with a black garbage bag to protect it.

"I've been living for I don't know how many months with black plastic bags over my desk," Kaetsu said. "This is a beautiful building and I'm really going to miss it, but I'm looking forward to getting into a building that doesn't leak."

The two-story building at 25 Aupuni St. was built in 1967 around a lush covered atrium, with exterior walls covered with a lava rock facade. It has almost 61,000 square feet of office space, but the interior design is outdated and inefficient, county officials said.

About 50 county employees in the county Office of Elections and the County Council moved out of the building in early October, with the council taking over second-floor office space at the Ben Franklin Building at 333 Kilauea Ave., and the elections staff moving to the Prince Kuhio Plaza.

This week, another 90 workers are moving out, scattering more county offices across Hilo.

Data Systems, Environmental Management, Fire Administration and county Research & Development staffs moved earlier this week to 2100 Kanoelehua Ave. in Puainako Town Center.

Yesterday's move involved the mayor's office, the Finance Department and portions of Data Systems, which are moving to Maluhia Place at 891 Ululani St.

County officials said some telephone, fax and e-mail addresses may be suspended until tomorrow, but will not change.

The county will begin the bidding process for the renovations in March, Whittington said.

Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com.