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USGS decides to shrink Menlo Park campus
• Agency plans to release 90,000-square-feet.

by Sandy Brundage

A lot of maps take up a lot of space, and that means some maps need to go if the U.S. Geological Survey is going to carry out its plan to shrink the size of its Menlo Park offices by 90,000 square feet.

USGS may save about $3.5 million annually by 2017 by releasing this rentable space, according to an agency announcement, without reducing staff or operations. The space reduction is part of a nationwide consolidation to save the USGS $9 million per year.

The changes will occur in phases. The agency plans to move out of the first floor of Building 3 on the 345 Middlefield Road campus by Sept. 30. The remaining floors will be emptied by September 2017, the announcement said.

The map sales office will move upstairs, with "a significantly reduced inventory," and the second-floor auditorium will remain as is for at least the next five years. Public access to the office will remain the same, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with a short closure during the move in mid-September. A $1 map sale to reduce inventory will be held Aug. 25, the agency said.

"Americans everywhere are seriously examining their budgets and expenses, making decisions about what they can do without in order to maintain the essentials during these tough financial times," said USGS Director Marcia McNutt in a written statement. "The USGS is going through the same process: by consolidating our facilities we can preserve more funds for our primary science mission."