An architectural and engineering agreement for a building to house the Agency on Aging won unanimous approval Thursday from the Flathead County commissioners.

CTA Architects Engineers of Kalispell will proceed with the design of the new South Campus Building to be constructed on First Avenue West in a style similar to the Earl Bennett Building.

The county has budgeted $6 million for the project in its five-year capital improvement plan. Half of the money is earmarked for the current fiscal year and the remaining $3 million is budgeted for next year.

County Administrator Mike Pence said he expects bids to be let for the construction project this year.

The South Campus Building will house not only the Agency on Aging but also some Health Department services and space for the Maintenance Department.

Commissioner Gary Krueger said the South Campus Building “has been a long time coming.

“We’ve done a lot of study and it’s really nice we’re moving forward,” he said.

At the time the Earl Bennett Building — named after longtime County Administrative Officer Earl Bennett — was built 13 years ago, county leaders envisioned a companion building in the future to accommodate county growth.

Over the past decade the county has spent about $45,000 on three separate studies addressing the needs for the Agency on Aging, Pence said.

Most recently, Architects Design Group completed a preliminary architectural report that looked at two county-owned sites for a new Agency on Aging facility — a location north of the fairgrounds and the South Campus property, which at the time didn’t include additional property the county has since purchased.

“We thought the best choice was to build on land we own,” Pence said.

The report completed last year favored the fairgrounds site, but Pence said he believes the South Campus site would have scored higher if it had included the additional property the county has purchased over the past year.

For the past 10 years the county has rented a building on Kelly Road and in recent years has paid Alpine Business Center $52,000 a year.

“From the moment the AOA moved into the building at 160 Kelly Road it was assumed the location would be temporary while a better location was developed,” the Architects Design Group report noted. “Multiple investigations were conducted over the years while looking at a dizzying array of options. Therefore, AOA finds itself in a building that is too small and ill-suited to its current and future mission.”

A few years ago the county considered tapping into space at the Gateway Community Center for the Agency on Aging, but that plan didn’t materialize.

Each preliminary architectural report has set the stage for determining the need for a new Agency on Aging facility. They have addressed health and safety concerns, facility operation and maintenance, growth projections and an evaluation of the existing facility.

Before voting on the engineering contract, Commissioner Pam Holmquist commented that she hopes “the other study we’re doing is completed before we get too far into the process.”

She was referring to a Community Development Block Grant that is funding an architectural report reviewing senior centers in Kalispell, Bigfork, Columbia Falls and Whitefish. The grant application, made by the city of Kalispell because the county wasn’t eligible to apply for a block grant last year, cited accessibility and health-and-safety challenges at some of the centers.

The senior center review is expected to be completed by December.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.