Byline: Randi Bjornstad The Register-Guard

SPRINGFIELD - Nervousness about taking the dreaded driver's test won't go away. But it will be going to a new place by the end of the year.

David House, spokesman for the state Driver and Motor Vehicle Services Division, said a new office

"We've outgrown our old office" at 1250 N. 18th St., House said. "We moved in there in 1971 - that's 36 years - and the population and the demand for services have grown, but the building hasn't. There's more staff there, and they're tripping over each other to get everything done."

The owner of the property, McKay Investment Co., "doesn't want to expand - they have other plans for the property," he said. "We need a larger space with more parking."

Enter Goodwill, which had a vacant building it wanted to lease, said Jim Martin, president of the nonprofit organization, which provides job training, employment and education for people with disabilities.

"We put our building on the lease market, and they responded," Martin said. "We had to do quite a lot of renovation, but we've worked closely to make it what the state needed for its new location."

Goodwill previously used the building as a child care center, he said, "but our mission is more to provide vocational training, not day care. The individuals who were using it were referred to other agencies in the area for care."

The inside of the building is almost complete, down to installation of work stations, equipment and furniture, House said. The new location has more than 6,000 square feet of space, compared with 2,500 in the old location.

Construction of the 108-space parking lot is the biggest remaining task. The reconfigured parking area will include enough space to park large commercial trucks, although there's no immediate plan to add driving tests for commercial trucking to the services available at the Springfield motor vehicle division location, House said.

"When we're ready to move, we'll try to do it over a weekend," he said. "Our plan is to close on a Friday and be ready to open in the new location on Monday morning."

The state has a 10-year lease with Goodwill, with the option of renewing it for up to 10 more years, House said.

The motor vehicle division "tends to lease property instead of owning it, so we can grow and move to larger space and not have to deal with surplus property," he said.

The state's $14,000 monthly lease payment includes property taxes and amortization of the cost of improvements to the building and parking area, House said.

Martin said Goodwill looks forward to having the motor vehicle division next door.

"It's a terrific partnership - the larger facility will be a benefit to them, and having them next door will increase traffic to our store," he said.