The only thing professional about the Robert L. Russel Professional Building is the people working in it.Balky computers, wild temperature swings, temperamental lights and elevators, sewer gases, even bugs are all in a day’s work at 105 E. Vermijo Ave. for the 200 people working for 4th Judicial District Attorney Dan May.“I’m pretty busy,” said Larry Stein, DA’s information technology and facilities worker.Stein’s latest chore has been keeping the building’s five servers going — which hold years’ worth of records and court filings.After chronic failure of the computer room’s cooling system, workers used cardboard to direct cool air from the building’s other ducts.The climate problem has cost at least $30,000 in repairs in the last six months, Stein said, but will soon be fixed after commissioners approved spending $11,000 to replace the cooling unit.But the building’s larger problems must wait. The heating and air conditioning, for example, would cost $1 million to replace, May said.“We have space heaters in the winter and fans in the summer,” he said. “They’re all over the place.” Some employees wear gloves as they type in the winter, May said.The county bought the 100,000-square-foot building in 1995 for $5.2 million from the El Paso County Retirement Plan, which had remodeled the fifth floor as executive offices.On the surface, things look good. Glass walls and wood door frames give an upscale feel. But the office has lost computer equipment from ceiling drips.A room on the sixth floor used to be called the “bug room” after dead birds caught in the attic drew flies, which laid eggs that, in turn, yielded larva that fell onto workers.“Staff in here was freaked out,” said office administrator Michelle Nelson.The room has been sprayed and will likely be reoccupied soon, May said.Despite all the problems, May isn’t asking for repair or remodeling money. “There is no money” for capital needs, he said.County officials have said for years they can’t afford adequate maintenance, and cash is in even shorter supply now that the economy has tanked and sales tax revenues have declined.“A lot of those systems need to be replaced or upgraded to meet current standards,” Deputy County Administrator Monnie Gore said. He believes the building is safe.If the county’s sales-tax proposal had passed last year, several million dollars would have gone into the building. But it failed.This week, commissioners looked at how to spend $5.5 million in capital money next year, and the DA’s building lost out.“We’d like to dedicate more funds to repair and maintenance,” Commission Chairman Jim Bensberg said, “but we’ve had to prioritize on things we think are more critical.”Among projects commissioners favor is replacement of the county’s payroll and accounting system software and upgrades to the County Administration Building.

Ann Alba hopped behind the counter to help guest s check in and out of Broadmoor West on Wednesday. Photo by Carol Lawrence, The Gazette