The OU Facilities Management Department is completing its building relocation in the next few months.

The department is about halfway through the process of moving some of its shops to 705 E. Lindsey St., said Facilities Management director Brian Ellis. They should finish the move this summer, Ellis said.

The older buildings on the south research campus that house the carpentry, roads and hauling, plumbing and electrical departments will be torn down, Ellis said.

Facilities Management still will keep operations in its main building at 160 Felgar St. near the Oklahoma Memorial Union, Ellis said.

Five-hundred forty people work in the Facilities Management Department, which is currently in separate buildings with some offices spread around campus, Ellis said.

“We’re one of the few departments that touches every area on campus,” Ellis said.

Ellis said having all the employees in one place will be a good thing.

“Having everyone working together kind of helps develop a unity amongst everyone and also does improve communication,” Ellis said. “Because everyone’s kind of working in the same area, you can sort of handle things as you run into them instead of having to go visit someone in another shop.”

The changes for the department include moving all materials and offices and consolidating shops in one central location.

Facilities Management became spread across campus because its building assignments were determined at random, Ellis said.

“It’s just sort of how it developed over time,” Ellis said. “I don’t think there was a strategy involved where people got located; it was just where space became available.”