Construction Of Courthouse Annex Under Way Building Will Ease Crunch For Kootenai County Workers

The first phase of Kootenai County’s $4.3 million new courthouse office complex is under way.

Workers from the county’s solid waste department cut down several trees and are ready to lay pipelines in preparation for late summer construction of the 40,000-square-foot building.

The three-story building will be erected behind the existing courthouse and is designed to end years of overcrowding.

The area being cleared northwest of the courthouse will be paved for parking that will replace the spaces lost behind the courthouse, said county administrator Tom Taggart.

Bids for the building itself will be opened this summer and construction is expected to start in September.

County workers are relieved to see the project finally under way.

“It should have been done 10 years ago,” said Commissioner Dick Panabaker, adding that the county now spends about $204,000 a year renting office space.

“But I guess the climate just wasn’t right.”

The groundwork comes nearly two years after Panabaker and Commissioner Dick Compton - then candidates - held a news conference to announce that a decision to build new offices should be taken to the voters.

Once elected, commissioners decided on another approach. They set aside $750,000 in the last two years and hope to set aside another $500,000 next year to pay for initial costs.

Remaining expenses will be financed through a 10-year lease-purchase agreement with the Idaho Association of Counties.

The new building will house the building and planning departments, motor vehicle and driver’s license offices and offices for elections, assessor, clerk, treasurer and commissioners.

It will include a meeting room that could seat several hundred people.

Construction is expected to be completed in about a year.

, DataTimes