The Flathead County Commissioners voted on Tuesday to purchase the former CenturyLink building in Kalispell, which, after months of pending renovations, will provide additional office space for county employees.

The county will purchase the building itself, located at 290 N. Main St. north of the intersection of Idaho and Main, for $720,000. According to planning documents from Cushing Terrell, the architecture firm hired to remodel the building, renovations and upgrades will cost another $3.8 million.

The project renovations includes an upgrade to the building’s exterior finish, a new west entry canopy and a new roofing system, among other exterior improvements. The interior work includes all new finishes, construction of the new interior configuration, an elevator upgrade and a new loading area on the southwest corner of the building. The budget also includes a total replacement of the building’s mechanical system and an upgrade to the electrical and plumbing engineering systems.

According to the planning document, county departments that will relocate to the new facility either partially or entirely include the Department of Motor Vehicles, Treasurer, Accounting, Election, Information Technology, Superintendent of Schools and Family Court Services.

The expansion is expected to resolve county space needs for the next decade at least and renovations are expected to be complete within the next 18 to 24 months.

According to Commissioner Phil Mitchell, the county considered eight other location and expansion options as part of a 2020 Flathead County space study. These included purchasing a vacant box store in Evergreen or placing a third story on the county’s South Campus Building.

Mitchell said the CenturyLink purchase and remodel was “unbelievably inexpensive,” comparatively. Other undertakings, according to estimates from the architecture firm, would have cost anywhere from about $8 million to more than $15 million.

“We’ve looked and we’ve looked and we’ve looked behind the scenes and there is nothing that even comes close to this,” said Mitchell, who spearheaded the space study. He added “staff pay and staff needs with input from our managers should be the number one thing we do.”

The purchase and renovation of the CenturyLink building is the largest of four projects the county will pursue in the coming months in an effort to address employee space needs.

Two new courtrooms, additional office space and new temporary holding cells with separate inmate access will be constructed in the Courthouse West building — a remodel that will cost nearly $1.5 million according to planning documents.

The Justice Center will be remodeled as well to allow for a much-needed courtroom for the Flathead County District Court. At a cost of nearly $800,000, two of the smaller Justice Court courtrooms will be converted into one larger District Court courtroom and there will also be a “minor reconfiguration” to the office support staff space.

Finally, after the Election Department moves to the new CenturyLink space, the Flathead County IT department will be able to relocate from the basement of the Justice Center to the second floor of the South Campus building. Planning documents state this relocation, which will cost nearly $70,000, “will ensure space for proper growth, safety and security for this highly important and much needed department.”

All together, the four projects will cost nearly $7 million to complete.

Commissioners Phil Mitchell and Randy Brodehl voted in favor of purchasing the CenturyLink building and other space projects and Commissioner Pam Holmquist voted against it.

For several years now, the commissioners and other county officials have looked into a handful of costly projects to address county growing pains. Aside from expanding employee office space, they have also considered allocating funds to a new detention center or jail.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Holmquist said “I sincerely hope that this works out well for all the departments that are moving. I just hope the county doesn’t wait until we are in crisis again before we address the detention facility.”

Reporter Kianna Gardner can be reached at 758-4407 or kgardner@dailyinterlake.com