Borden building dedicated
By Matt Shaw
Published in News on April 7, 2004 2:05 PM
The Borden Building was formally reopened Tuesday afternoon as the new home for local mental health services.
More than 100 people, including Goldsboro Mayor Al King and the Wayne County commissioners, attended the dedication service. The ceremony also honored the memory of former county mental health director Bill Condron.
The county spent more than five years and more than $3.6 million renovating the Borden Building, once the tallest building in the city.
It now houses Eastpointe, which provides mental health, developmental disabilities and substance abuse services.
County Manager Lee Smith praised the Eastpointe staff during the dedication. "You do not know how much you impact the lives of other people," Smith said.
Oscar Herring, chairman of Eastpointe's board of directors, thanked the county for its support of Eastpointe. "Your board members have come in and meshed and really contributed," he said.
The ceremony included a tribute to Condron, who worked for the Wayne County Mental Health Center for 30 years and more then seven years as director. He helped oversee the center's merger with three other counties into what is now Eastpointe. He died in December after a prolonged battle with cancer.
Condron's wife, Gerale, unveiled the plaque for the Bill Condron conference room on the building's first floor, while his children, B.J. and Tracy, uncovered a portrait that will hang in the room.
The gesture touched his staff, Eastpointe Director Jack St. Clair said. "Bill will remain in our hearts forever."
All the Wayne County representatives for Eastpointe attended the ceremony. They are Commissioner John M. Bell, Dr. John Fisher, Tom Fleetwood, Floyd McCullouch, Nancy Moore and Anne Turner.
The six-story Borden Building was the tallest building in Goldsboro when it was completed in 1914. It was constructed by three brothers, E.B., Frank and John Borden, as a place to house offices for their business, Borden Brick & Tile Co. The building provided offices for many professionals, including doctors, lawyers, architects A.J. Maxwell Jr. and John B. Guillette.
For more than 20 years, the sixth floor housed the Algonquin Social Club. Later tenants of the top floor were WGBR radio station and the law firm now known as Warren Kerr Walston & Taylor & Smith.
The Borden family gave the building to the county in 1976. It housed mainly human services office, such as child support and food stamps.
The county's vanpool service, now part of Gateway, also operated there.
The county began planning the renovation in 1998. Partin & Hobbs, PA, of Goldsboro was the architectural and engineering firm for the project, while D.S. Simmons Inc. did the renovation.