Thurston County Commissioners discussed sending voters another proposal to build a new county courthouse complex, this time in downtown Olympia.
The location proposed is along Plum Street in Olympia, adjacent to Union Avenue.
The county’s existing courthouse facilities are outdated, as presented in the Courthouse Campus Infrastructure Project Update with the Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) yesterday, June 17.
Capital Projects Planning Manager Rick Thomas said the courthouse complex in West Olympia does not meet current earthquake safety codes, and not all can be connected to recent information technology because of their outdated data cabling limits.
Currently, there are seven courthouse buildings on three different blocks without a clear sense of entrance, and there is limited queuing space for security screening, said Thomas.
The facilities either have narrow corridors, departments located behind doors off public corridors, no central information desk, or have inefficient information/direction systems.
Thomas said that citizens wait in line to ask a question only to find out they are in the wrong building, leading to reduced staff efficiency due to the constant need to redirect the public.
Because the Thurston County Courthouse was built when the county had half the population, this lack of space causes late start times and delays in the courtroom.
“The space buildings are a bit hard to access, the parking is limited, the jurors have to walk up to 1/4 of a mile, the wheelchair access is not good in some places in the building, and then the multiple buildings make it hard to find out exactly which part of the county you're going to go visit,” Thomas said.
Thomas also highlighted the need for better security inside because of the risks associated with only a stanchion separating the entering and exiting public.
As the buildings were constructed in the late 1970s, they had undergone routine but systems this old wear out and break which requires significant funding to replace, added Thomas.
The proposed courthouse would have 330,000 square feet of space.
“So, a few features of the new courthouse: the design— we would have had more court space, we would have been more energy efficient, and we would use sustainable design for kind of our material,” said Thomas.
For operations, a one-stop customer service desk is set to be established to help people find services, offices, and departments.
Regarding security and safety, the new courthouse would separate witnesses, judges, and jurors from the defendants.
“With the modern courthouse, the back of the house is called the secured area. That's where the judicial staff would be—judges and everyone. No one can get to that space without going through kind of a secondary mode of security,” Thomas said.
Detainees would be brought up from separate elevators directly to secure spaces that are between two courtrooms. They may be brought to the courtrooms from that space and then back down to that “sally port” area where they would be held until they were called in.
This mechanism would prevent any direct contact between the in-custody detainee from the public and the jury. The public may access the courtrooms through the main public opening.
The dollar amount for the project is estimated to be $250 million if the construction started last 2021.
The funding comes from the county’s property tax and if approved, the annual property tax on a $300,000 home would increase by about $12 per month.
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Deskandchairs
I sure hope they plan this with opportunities for expansion, given that the area continues to grow (an attract low-lifes). Let's don't repeat the errors of the past such that "they" whine about over crowding/lack of space in another few years.
Tuesday, June 18 Report this
DeeperThoughts
Any proposal by Thurston County officials to construct a new courthouse is circumspect and should be met with maximum scrutiny. The county has a decades-long documented history of ignoring the will of the voters and making poor financial decisions on infrastructure and rental facilities such as the new admin building. Add to this the recent state audit findings after county commissioners chose to intentionally exclude the county auditor when purchasing over a million dollars in furniture for the atrium without competitive bids. There is a severe and justified lack of trust with county officials and there is no way I would support any multi-million dollar proposal by the county so they can mismanage another project at taxpayer expense. The most recent atrium boondoggle and state audit findings speak for themselves.
Tuesday, June 18 Report this
fyancey
The county hasn’t maintained its present facility. Why build a new one and allow it to decay through neglect as well? The present facilities may be old and inadequate but that is no justification for ignoring maintenance.
Wednesday, June 19 Report this
Honestyandrealityguy
A few years back, the existing courthouse and various offices, including old jail could have been remodeled for $9 million. Now they are up to about $400 million. Why????
Wednesday, June 19 Report this
jimlazar
This article is a little confusing.
The location previously discussed for the County Courthouse was the old Olympia City Hall site (the "doughnut" which is a cruddy building and needs to go.
At several recent City Council meetings, members were speaking in code about an apparent sale of this site to the Nisqually Tribe for a resort / conference facility / or casino. There have been a couple of Executive Session meetings discussing "real estate" that brought out discussion in open session. I think that deal is far enough along that the site is likely not available to the County any longer.
This location will likely be underwater at high tide in a decade or two. It has been underwater at high tide in the past (I remember floating Cadillacs at the auto dealer where Les Schwab Tire is now). It seems like a mistake to build anything there.
A better location for a new Courthouse is at Capital Mall. There is plenty of parking, many of the retail spaces are vacant, and there are a bunch of convenient restaurants there.
Wednesday, June 19 Report this
bonaro
Just a couple years ago the County spent over 100k to update the signage at the Courthouse. Shortly afterward they move most of the offices out to Pacific Ave., making the new signage obsolete. Now they say they have have inefficient information/direction systems and need a new Courthouse to fix it.
Whos is driving this bus?
Wednesday, June 19 Report this
Ribbieb
Sounds like a good idea to me. I know the difficulty of getting to the right place in the current facilities, information systems are awkward, and security seems weak. They will have to mitigate the sea level rise effects. The population is growing and the county needs to accommodate increased court activity.
Wednesday, June 19 Report this
TheGreatAnon
I'm totally cool w/ a new county courthouse, just not on the old City of Olympia city hall site. The building is a wonderful & historically significant example of Mid-century Modern and should be preserved.
Wednesday, June 19 Report this
Claire
Thurston County is broke.
Thursday, June 20 Report this
HappyOlympian
250 million divided by 300k residents equals about 833 per person. Seems a bit pricey (note the price based on 2021 estimates, seems a bit odd), and as some here have noted Thurston County officials seem to have integrity/competency issues. Certainly the final cost will be dramatically higher. I like the suggestion made in the comments of using some mall space - much less expensive, good transit, lots of support industries and retail that could benefit from the significant foot traffic.
Thursday, June 20 Report this