Building on the Past

By Beacon Staff

Click the image or use the arrows to see more historic images of the Flathead County Courthouse building as well as the current renovation.

It’s not often that a Flathead County building can be described with lyrics from a Broadway musical, but for the historic county courthouse in Kalispell, this one fits: “Everything old is new again.”

Construction is in the final stages of a $2.5 million renovation project, which began in earnest last February and is slated finish the first week of October.

The project is more than a facelift for the building, which was completed in 1903 and is now an administrative building. On the outside of the courthouse, crews digging around the foundation found that the original mortar had significantly deteriorated. This prompted an additional $91,000 in unplanned stone foundation upgrades, with crews re-mortaring and waterproofing the building’s entire base.

The external brickwork got washed and crews labored to remove the black stains caused by the building’s strips of copper lining. Once the cleaning and painting are finished, it will be finalized with a transparent sealant.

Inside, a new layout is rapidly taking shape in the whine of table saws and thuds of busy hammers. As Flathead County Administrator Mike Pence walked around the construction site, he noted that nearly every piece of internal infrastructure was either replaced or refurbished.

Most of the improvements were safety necessities. The electrical, heating, cooling and plumbing systems were all brought up to code and the building now has its first elevator.

“Everything is new,” Pence said, pointing to the sprinkler system visible in the open ceiling.

There is also an updated fire escape stairway, which fits serendipitously in the exact dimensions of areas previously used as storage vaults. The vaults are lined with double brick walls, which provide fireproof protection and would have been difficult to move.

“We were pretty amazed how this just fit perfectly,” Pence said.

Crews also installed building reinforcements to make the courthouse earthquake ready.

The ground floor will house the county plat room, the clerk and recorder’s staff and the election offices. The offices are spread more efficiently in the space provided, with more symmetry than the previous haphazard layout.

For those who choose to take the stairs to the second floor, the grand stairway in the north side of the building will be refurbished up to the third floor, with lost pieces recreated to blend in.

The original oak pieces will be refinished, Pence said.

On the second floor, the public will have a large, open foyer, which Pence said would contain glass displays with museum pieces, wall hangings, cushy chairs and end tables.

“It’s historical and so we want the public areas to all reflect that,” Pence said.

The county GIS, finance and human resources offices will be on this floor.

The third floor will contain the county commissioners’ offices and their meeting room, as well as the county administrator’s office. The meeting room will sit where the former courthouse was situated, with high ceilings, natural light and plenty of original wood accents.

County Commissioner Pam Holmquist said she is excited to get into the new building, especially considering the space of the current commissioners’ meeting room, which is located in an adjacent annex building.

“I think it’s great,” Holmquist said. “[In the annex], I’ve been to meetings where people were standing outside, which wasn’t a good thing at all. They should be in the building.”

The annex buildings on the west and east sides of the courthouse will be removed either by December or next spring, Pence said.

Holmquist also noted the importance of bringing the building up to code.

“It’ll be nice to have the elevator in there, too,” she said. “I’m surprised they’ve gotten away with not having one.”

Commissioner Jim Dupont said he felt people would be more at ease in the spacious new meeting room, but that will also depend on the commissioners creating an inviting environment.

Dupont credited Martel Construction and CTA Architects for doing a “wonderful” job, adding that it is turning out better than he expected. Part of the challenge, Dupont said, is maintaining historical integrity within the building.

“The whole thing, it’s a beautiful building to begin with and over the years has deteriorated a lot,” Dupont said. “I’m really looking forward to going in there.”

County officials also noted that the renovation saved taxpayers more money than if the county had built a new administrative building.

According to CTA, renovating 15,000 square feet in the building cost $2,550,000, whereas a new building would have cost $5,070,000. Part of the project – $250,000 worth of energy-efficient windows – was paid for through a block grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.

In the courthouse last week, touches of the past were visible despite the modern changes. Original wood frames still line doors and windows and several non-functional, detailed radiators will remain in the hallways.

When the courthouse was first built, it received criticism for its half-mile distance from the train depot. Eventually, between 1927 and 1941, the buildings along Main Street were developed through a district-planning project.

The smaller brick building behind the courthouse used to house the county jail and, for a period of time, the sheriff and his family. Pat Walsh, currently a detective with the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, lived there while his father, Richard P. Walsh, was sheriff from 1947 to 1963.

“I grew up in there to the middle of my senior year of high school,” Walsh said.

As a little kid, Walsh said he remembered running through the courthouse, and “dragging main” around the courthouse’s loop as a teenager. Not everyone was successful at navigating the turns, Walsh remembers, and some would hit the front of the building.

Coincidentally, when Walsh joined sheriff’s office in 1986, his first office was in his childhood bedroom, which he said still had the same ceiling.

Holmquist also remembers driving around the courthouse in high school and said many residents of Flathead County feel a connection to the building’s heritage.

“There’s a lot of history there,” Holmquist said.