New Washington County courts building to bring breathing room

Kyndell Harkness, Star Tribune

The new five-story courts building for Washington County will provide eight courtrooms to replace the cramped 41-year-old courtrooms next door.

As the population grows, the county adds much needed space for courts.

By KEVIN GILES, Star Tribune

Last update: July 4, 2009 - 12:17 AM

In a little elevator at the heart of a $59.6 million construction zone, Ken Engquist punches buttons all day. He held a garage sale in there once to amuse his passengers and pass the time. It's hot in the small space, almost claustrophobic, but the elevator champ doesn't mind.

"Mind over matter," he said. "It's something that has to be done."

Engquist, a member of Operating Engineers Local 49, ferries his fellow workers up and down five floors in the new Washington County courts building, which will open for business in September.

This growing east-metro county -- expected to add another 140,000 residents by 2030 -- will replace the cramped 41-year-old courtrooms next door with the new facility.

In the midst of a tough economy, county commissioners take care to explain that money for construction came from long-term capital improvement bonds the county floated in 2007.

The eight new courtrooms will provide a safer, more efficient flow of people appearing before judges, including prisoners from the county jail, said Don Theisen, the county's public works director and chief engineer.

The glass-surfaced courts building is the most visible portion of the county's makeover of its main campus in Stillwater. Even as that work nears completion, remodeling is set to begin in August on the south wing that houses county offices. And in September, once the courts' operations move to the new building, remodeling of the old courtrooms will begin.

"For a job of this size and magnitude I'm amazed at how well it's going," Theisen said. The county manages 30 contracts for the overall project and overcame some early delays with deliveries of steel beams. "It's testimony to what really can get done when people come together and make it happen."

The county broke ground for the courts building less than two years ago. Engquist, of Blaine, has watched the building's progress from when it was nothing more than a steel skeleton rising against the backdrop of the St. Croix River Valley. Riding all day on a windowless elevator doesn't bother him at all.

"It's not bad. I'm able to see about everybody on the site," he said this week.

Although work is substantially done inside, innumerable details remain. Wires poke out of the floor, most walls remain unpainted, and chalky wallboard dust covers everything.

The largest courtroom will seat about 100 spectators -- a useful size when a judge is hearing cases one after the other. Large areas outside the courtrooms allow gathering space for the public, and the building includes many more conference rooms for attorneys who now have to talk with their clients in hallways next to strangers.

On the fifth and top floor, workers built chambers for the 10 district court judges. The county left unfinished space on the fourth floor for future expansion.

New space in the adjoining law enforcement center includes an arraignment court and an updated 911 communications center.

Meanwhile, Theisen and his county project manager, Erik Jalowitz, continue to shift entire departments from one area to another as the updated government center takes shape.

"It's a series of dominos," Theisen said.

Kevin Giles • 612-673-4432