When a city official unlocks the front door of La Pine’s new City Hall today, it will be anything but business as usual.

Starting at 8 a.m., the city will — for the first time since incorporation in 2006 — have a full-blown City Hall building to do business in.

“We still have some data transfer to do and some computer setup, but we’re ready to go,” La Pine Mayor Ken Mulenex said.

All week, Mulenex said, volunteers have moved furniture, computers and other office supplies from the previous location about 100 yards away. Those offices consisted of two large rooms the city rented from the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office. For the past four years, the city’s two full-time employees — city manager Rick Allen and administrative assistant Patti Morgan — worked side-by-side in one room, which also housed city records.

Previously occupied by RE/MAX Summit Realty, the new La Pine City Hall stood vacant for almost a year except for a small financial adviser’s office.

The city paid $330,000 for the building in February, and another $170,000 was budgeted to remodel the interior and cover financing costs. Building costs were financed through a program run by the League of Oregon Cities that issues tax-exempt bonds to pay for small public projects, Mulenex said.

The city will occupy about 3,800 of the building’s 4,800 square feet initially and will continue to collect rent from the financial adviser’s office occupying the remainder. About half the City Hall’s space will serve as offices for city employees, while the other half has been converted into a 49-seat conference room for council meetings and other public business.

Mulenex said today’s opening will be low-key to allow the staff and city officials to work out some of the inevitable glitches. The first order of business will be the regular City Council meeting Wednesday.

A reception at the new City Hall will be held Nov. 17, with the grand opening to follow the next day.

“We’ve invited dignitaries from around the state, and we’ll have a posting of the colors, a dedication and the official opening on that day,” Mulenex said. “This building is going to do great things for the city. People can be proud of it as a symbol of a thriving community, and it shows the city’s stability.”