As the New Year approaches, Flathead County is approaching major capital improvement projects on its Kalispell campus, including the renovation and revitalization of the historic jail building and the construction of an entirely new facility.
Earlier this month, the Flathead County Commission put out a call for construction bids on the South Campus construction project, a $6 million building that will eventually house several county departments, including the Agency on Aging.
Bids for constructing the South Campus building will be opened in the commissioners’ office on Dec. 23.
Designs for the building, which the commission approved in September, show a two-story facility, with Agency on Aging expected to take up the bottom floor. There will also be space for the county maintenance department, and a dental clinic for the Flathead City-County Health Department.
It is expected to be of similar structure to the Earl Bennett Building, which is situated nearby on the south campus.
The county’s renovation and revitalization of the old jail building is also in the works, with the $2.9 million project slated for completion in 2015. The jail currently fulfills a hodge-podge of county uses, and there are still old jail cells in the basement and second floor of the building. The old holding tanks for prisoners now serve as county workshops.
The renovations will revamp the inside of the building, similar to how the county totally renewed the inside of the nearby courthouse building, which now houses various county departments.
With the remodel, the county will move the Flathead County Attorney’s Office from its current location at the Flathead County Justice Center to the old jail, giving the county attorneys more space and freeing up space at the justice center for the Clerk of Court offices and the Justice Court expansions.
There will also be room in the old jail for conference rooms and meeting spaces.
In mid-November, the commission approved a contract for asbestos abatement services, and the county timeline for the entire project expects that it will be completed next spring.