By the time hurricane season ends in November, storm proofing should be completed on Gainesville's police station and public works building.
The improvements will reinforce the buildings' windows and doors to withstand stronger winds, said Milton Reid, Gainesville's general services director.
The police station and public works building are priorities because employees often remain on-duty during hurricanes, Reid said.
"The staff is there, so we want to make sure everyone is safe up to a Category 4 hurricane at least," Reid said.
The total cost of the improvements will be about $27,000 for the public works building and $177,000 for the police station, said Larry Abbott, the city's facilities maintenance manager.
Chris Cooper, the city grant coordinator, said 75 percent of the costs have been covered by grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Hits from hurricanes in 2004 made Gainesville eligible for FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, Cooper said.
The funding can be used for projects to prevent flooding or minimize future disaster damage, according to the FEMA Web site.
Although the city originally applied for the grants more than two years ago and the project's finish date has been delayed about a month, Abbott said he thought the improvements were still worth it.
"They'll be there forever," he said.
The projects should start within six weeks, Abbot said.
Cooper said the city would also use FEMA grant money to strengthen its seven fire stations, but the project will not be completed until the end of 2009.
Alachua County also received FEMA grant money because of the 2004 storms, which it used on similar improvements to five Alachua County Fire Rescue stations, said Danny Hinson, a planner for the Emergency Operations Center.
Hinson said he has been pleased with the stations' newly wind-protected windows, which were completed in late July.
"Next time we have another storm and we need to stage a lot of firefighters on call, we're going to put them in these buildings because they'll be the safest of all," Hinson said.
