The Wright County Board earlier this month approved soliciting proposals for a construction manager for a new courts building.

 

The facility will be a connection to the existing Wright County Jail/Law Enforcement Center at 3800 Braddock Avenue in Buffalo Twp. that was built in 2009.

 

Early estimates have put the cost at over $30 million.

 

Over the past few years, there have been discussions about the inadequacies of the existing court facilities, which are located in the Wright County Government Center, which was built in the 1950s.

 

Three courtrooms were added in a 1990 remodel of the building. The county attorney’s office and the court services department also moved into the present space after that remodel. Both departments have unmet space needs and no room for expansion. 

 

There have also been numerous issues with handicap accessibility, safety and lack of current technology.

 

 In 2015,  the county conducted a space study with the National Center for State Courts to determine its needs through 2040. 

 

In 2016, the county did a feasibility study to determine if expansion of the existing facility would be a cost effective solution for the next two to 10 years.

 

The findings of that study concluded expansion at the current location would not be cost effective or financially responsible.

 

In June of 2016, the Wright County Board voted to cease work on identifying remodeling options and two months later, sent out proposals for an architect to design a new courts building.

 

Last November, the board approved BKV Group for architectural, engineering and design services for the project. BKV is currently in the early stages of schematic design development on the project.

 

The projected size of the building is three or four stories with a total of approximately 100,000 s. It will need to accommodate all current court-related services, including  courtrooms, judicial chambers and jury deliberation suites, court administration, jury assembly, law library/self help center, security entrance and lobby, courthouse support space including conference rooms, breakrooms, restrooms, county attorney office, court services and the Minnesota department of Corrections.

 

The project schedule: Schematic design: Dec. 2016 to April 2017;

 

Design development: May 2017 to Sept. 2017;

 

Construction documents: Oct 2017 to Feb. 2018;

 

Bidding and award: March and April 2018; Construction: May 2018 to Sept. 2019.

 

The board expects to choose a construction manager in March.