SALISBURY — The Rowan Community Center will be undergoing an extensive makeover with the construction of a new health department space in the former Salisbury Mall. The renovations will begin on June 1, and the county departments already in the space will be remaining open.

As part of the renovations process, the county will close the entrance closest to the board of elections. The entrance at the flag poles, next to the former Thelma’s restaurant, will remain open to the public.

The construction of the health department is expected to take until 2026.

In November of 2024, the county commissioners voted to award the contract for the construction to Holden Building Company at $15 million.

The move for the health department comes as a result of the department’s lack of space for expansion in its current location, which it shares with the Rowan County Department of Social Services.

If the project follows the current plan, the new space in West End Plaza would host 22 exam rooms, up from the 14 in the current East Innes Street building. With the Medicaid expansion in 2023, the extra space will be needed to accommodate the additional eligible patients. While the state legislature approved and implemented the expansion, the budget does have a “trigger law” that returns the N.C. Medicaid program to its previous levels if the federal government pays less than the current 90 percent. 

The funding for the project will come from multiple sources, with the commissioners wanting to avoid using local funding as much as possible. Finance Director Anna Bumgarner said in November that $10 million of the funding comes from the American Rescue Plan Act, while the remaining budgeted $15 million would come from the county’s fund balance. County Manager Aaron Church said in November that approximately $5 million of the fund balance appropriation would actually come from Medicaid cost reimbursements, leaving the county with $10 million in committed local funding.