EPHRATA - The Grant County Courthouse may have some new parking by the end of fall.

The county purchased a house located between the courthouse and Grant County PUD's parking lot for $90,000. The 5,000-square-foot area will make between 12 to 20 new parking spaces for employees and visitors to the courthouse.

The new parking lot will be for employees and overflow for the public parking around the courthouse, Commissioner Cindy Carter said. This should allow the public to park closer to the building.

She said the amount of people parking around the building goes in spurts and seems to increase during the summer.

"We would rather have the public parking closer to the courthouse … (The change) will make it a little more user friendly for those visiting the courthouse." she said. "It just seems like a lot of people complain that they can't find a parking spot."

She said the county tried to purchase the land in the past, but the price was around $120,000, which was too high.

"(The commissioners) have been working on this for several months," she said. "The PUD has also been interested in the property."

The county also considered building a separate building on the spot, Carter said. It's location at the edge of existing parking lots made it more convenient to take the building down.

The construction on the new lot should be done before winter, she said.