On Saturday the Lake County commissioners held an open house and ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Dave Stipe Annex to welcome the public into the newly built space on the corner of First St. E. and Fifth Ave. W. in Polson. 

The annex is dedicated to Stipe who served as the county commissioner of district two, which includes Arlee, Charlo and St. Ignatius, for 16 years. Stipe passed away in March of 2023 after a long battle with cancer.  

The open house encompassed a handful of Lake County staff members and the three commissioners who answered questions and welcomed the public. Stipe’s daughter, Taylor, and her son, Brandt, were invited to cut the ribbon at the ceremony.  

“It was a real honor to work by him and sit by him for five or six years. He taught me a lot of things, even at my ripe age, that maybe I hadn't learned in life,” Gale Decker, the commissioner of district three and chairman, said before handing the big scissors over to Taylor.  

“I want people to drive by and look at that sign and say, ‘Yeah, Dave Stipe was a great guy, a good commissioner.’ And value the memories and the time that we had with him,” Decker added. 

Bill Barron, the commissioner of district one, said next week offices will be closed to move over to the annex and the following week they will reopen. Barron said the only thing left to complete is finalizing the design for the parking lot. Barron explained that Swank Enterprises built it and said they did a great job on this $7 million project.  

Local Polson residents Kelly and Byron Smith, who attended the open house, said it is a beautiful building. Kelly explained that she feels like the county didn’t blow money or go over the top with the space.  

“They did a very good job. It doesn’t seem excessive. It will help retain employees,” Byron said.   

Kelly also said this building is more accessible with indoor staircases protected from the snow and ice.  

The three-story, 15,828-square-foot building will house new space for elections, land planning, environmental health, information technology (IT), and geographic information systems (GIS), as well as the Lake County Superintendent of Schools. Barron also explained that they leased an office space to the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation in the building since the county works so closely with them.  

    The county hosted an open house and ribbon cutting for the Dave Stipe Annex on Aug 9. (Emily Messer/Leader)