Study to address county facility overcrowding

COEUR d'ALENE — Kootenai County has tapped Architects West to perform a $57,000 facility study to explore expansion options in multiple departments.

"This study will determine how many square feet we need and what's the best approach," said Shawn Riley, a facilities consultant for the county commissioners. The issue: Current facilities are overcrowded.

Riley said the study is expected to start in about two weeks and will finish up in about six months.

He estimates the improvements — whatever they’re determined to be — will be completed in a year and a half to two years.

More than $6 million from the county’s fund balance will be set aside for the expansion. Since the project will be paid for with existing funds, it will not increase taxes, Riley said.

Riley said elected officials will be interviewed as part of the study, which will address work capacity issues for the next 15 to 20 years.

Riley said two pieces of ground that can be built on for the downtown campus include the historic home at 627 Government Way, most recently occupied by the law offices of Brown, Justh and Romero.

The county last year purchased the former law office building adjacent to its parking lot on the north side of its courthouse campus for $425,000. That building will be removed and new office space will be constructed there instead.

Needs include bringing back the Public Defender's Office to the campus so the county doesn't have to lease space and expanding justice services and other departments.

"Everybody is bursting at the seams — not just district court," Riley said. "It's all purely growth-driven."

Riley said that if the county is mandated to have another judge, it doesn't have space for that person.

Riley said one idea is to construct a new administration building and move the courts system into the current administration building.

The county addressed parking last year by adding the lot across Northwest Boulevard from the downtown campus.