SANTA CRUZ >> The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors are out on a month-long summer recess, but work is just getting started inside the board chambers.

For the first time since the opening of the County Government Center in the 1960s, the room where the five supervisors conduct the peoples’ business will be the subject of a major renovation project that promises to bring with it a better experience for the participating public.

“We’re going to take the opportunity (July recess) to get started on some work to reorient and upgrade the board chambers so it just works a little bit better for the boardmembers (and) for the community,” said county spokesperson Jason Hoppin. “There’s going to be some technology upgrades. A lot of the equipment in there is reaching the end of its useful life.”

The third and final phase of the Government Broadcasting Revitalization Project, which targets the board chambers on the building’s 5th floor, is expected to take roughly three or four months to complete, according to Hoppin. The scope of the effort includes technology upgrades to facilitate a better viewing experience both in person and remotely, a 90-degree turn in the orientation of the room, along with newer, more comfortable seating.

“It’s going to look different,” said Hoppin. “It’s past time.”

The $2 million renovation will displace the board — and the various commissions and committees it shares meeting space with — until approximately October, but Hoppin said the county has a few potential venues for where the meetings can be hosted in the interim. One option includes the community room inside the basement of the same building where meetings are currently held at 701 Ocean St. in Santa Cruz. That space was recently outfitted with technology upgrades of its own that were included in a previous phase of the revitalization project.

Another possibility includes moving future meetings to the South County Government Center at 500 Westridge Drive in Watsonville, which was also recently outfitted with a refurbished community room. The county hasn’t ruled out contacting one of the four city jurisdictions to see if their chambers could make for a suitable temporary fit, Hoppin said.

Funding for the project came from Digital Infrastructure Video Competitor Act/Public Education Government fees that local governments collect from cable franchise providers — Xfinity, in the case of Santa Cruz County, according to Hoppin. The money is reserved only for capital improvements and equipment upgrades that support the broadcasting of open government meetings and cannot be used for general operating expenses or any capital expenses not related to public broadcasting, county staff previously noted.

The community room upgrades were part of the project’s recently finished second phase while the first phase, which was launched last year, involved upgrading the broadcasting and virtual meeting technology in a couple conference rooms adjacent to the board chambers in Santa Cruz.

The board agreed last November to hire William Fisher Architects for design and bidding support for the final phase. The board’s next meeting is scheduled for Aug. 5.