Plans call for renovating historic county jail

Flathead County’s future building plans include another historical restoration project similar to work recently completed at the old courthouse building in downtown Kalispell.

According to county administrator Mike Pence, expanding the Justice Center to provide room for growing court needs was estimated to cost $5.5 million. But restoring the original Flathead County Jail next to the old courthouse will cost $1.5 million.

Once completed, the Flathead County Attorney’s offices could be relocated from the Justice Center to the old jail building. According to Flathead County Clerk of Court Peg Allison, that move would also remedy the perception that the county attorney “has ‘easy access’ to the courts.”

The old courthouse and jail building together cost $100,000 to build in 1903. The jail cells are still in place, but they haven’t been used in decades. One corner of the old jailhouse currently is used by the Juvenile Detention Center as an office, but most of the building holds janitorial supplies and maintenance tools. The attic is unused but could be converted into offices, Pence said.

Pence said the renovation will be a “first-class project.” Renovation of the 110-year-old courthouse cost $2.6 million. Preliminary design costs for the old jailhouse project will be included in the fiscal year 2014 budget, and construction would take place in fiscal year 2015. When completed, the old jail building will accommodate 21 people from the county attorney’s office.

In related news, the owner of a two-story insurance office building on Main Street south of the county’s courthouse campus has accepted the county’s $500,000 offer to acquire the building, Pence said. The money will come from the county’s share of federal payment-in-lieu-of-taxes revenue.

The county already owns several lots south of the courthouse campus. County commissioner Pam Holmquist said the insurance office building might be difficult to remodel and the county was mostly interested in the property for expansion.

There has been talk of establishing a new Agency on Aging facility in the area south of the courthouse campus, but additional properties might need to be acquired to provide space for parking and future expansion. The commissioners have earmarked $2 million for a new Agency on Aging facility in fiscal year 2015, using $500,000 in PILT money and possibly a Community Development Block Grant.