Tell Thurston County What You Would Like to See in a New Courthouse and Civic Center

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Submitted by Thurston County Board of County Commissioners

With additional interest in the Courthouse and Civic Center project, we will be hosting one more open house on Monday, November 26, at 6:00 p.m. at the Westwood Baptist Church in Olympia. Come to our open house and give us feedback on your experiences and perspective of the current courthouse, tell us what you would like to see in the new Courthouse and Civic Center, and see layout concepts for each of the three potential sites!

Thomas Architecture Studios (TAS), the consultant group hired to perform the feasibility study, will be facilitating these public input sessions. At this open house, when TAS will present design ideas for each site for feedback.

Open Houses on the Thurston County Courthouse and Civic Center Project: The Challenges – How can we solve the challenge?

When: Monday, November 26, 2018, 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Where: Westwood Baptist Church, 333 Kaiser Road NW, Olympia WA  98502

If you can’t make it to the open houses, don’t worry, we have recorded an open house session from October and November for your reference. The October session on site criteria is already available on the website along with a survey, and the November session will be posted in the coming days along with a second survey to tell us what you think about each of the three potential sites.

The recordings of the open houses, surveys, upcoming meeting dates, and information about the project are available at: https://www.thurstoncountywa.gov/bocc/Pages/courthouse-civic-project.aspx

Background:

The current courthouse buildings are at the end of their useful life and cost significant taxpayer dollars to maintain and operate. The current layout presents challenges when delivering services for citizens who come to the different buildings in the courthouse complex. A new or updated courthouse and civic center will improve and consolidate services, promote long-term cost savings, and enhance access for citizens looking to do business with the various County offices and departments.

This project is intended to:

  • Make using county services more convenient and easier
  • Keep jurors and those working in the building safer
  • Reduce the cost to operate and maintain the buildings
  • Be environmentally sustainable
  • Reflect our pride in living in Thurston County, the Capital County of Washington State

The three sites being evaluated in the feasibility study are:

  • Hill Top Site – Renovation/expansion of the Courthouse and Civic Center at its’ current Lakeridge Drive location.
  • Plum Street Site – Construction of a new Courthouse and Civic Center on the existing City of Olympia, Creighton Justice Center, property on Plum Street.
  • Harrison West Site – Construction of a new Courthouse and Civic Center on property located at Harrison Avenue NW and Kaiser Road SW.

The County anticipates bringing the completed proposal to the citizens for a vote during the August 2019 election.

Disability Accommodations

To request disability accommodations, contact Whitney Pearsall at 360-786-5440 or email at pearsaw@co.thurston.wa.us at least five days prior to the meeting. Persons with speech or hearing disabilities may call via Washington Relay: 711 or 800-833-6388.

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