Thurston County commissioners unofficially agreed on a scaled-back renovation of its courthouse campus during a Wednesday, Jan. 8, work session.
County staff put forth three reduced options to the commissioners, all significantly lower than the expected $40 million in expenditures that Assistant County Manager Joshua Cummings said the project would originally cost.
The board chose a $5.5 million renovation plan that includes painting, carpeting, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, restroom upgrades, main campus roof upgrades and more within its buildings. The other options cost $2.3 million and $3.4 million and involved less extensive renovations.
Commissioners will officially vote on the options during its Jan. 21 meeting.
The Board of County Commissioners told county staff in the summer to scrap plans to remodel the campus on Lakeridge Drive in Olympia with a $50 million bond. The county created a subcommittee of the board to discuss the renovation project over the summer.
County Manager Leonard Hernandez said that the county’s stakeholders, including its judges, have been accommodating in identifying their needs versus their wants.
“I’ve been extremely proud of the judges for coming together as a team to say, ‘We are willing to forgo some of our needs today for a long-term plan and just go with the bare minimum,’” he said during the Jan. 8 work session.
In the summer, the district and superior courts told the board about the insufficient space and number of courtrooms to manage the increasing caseloads. Staff said the courthouse had reached its capacity and that offices and departments outgrew the space available.
