County commissioners vote 2-1 to move courthouse to downtown Olympia
Thurston County commissioners voted 2-1 Tuesday to build a new courthouse and county office complex in downtown Olympia, according to a county news release.
Commissioners John Hutchings and Tye Menser voted in favor of the plan, while Commissioner Gary Edwards voted to build on the existing courthouse site on Lakeridge Drive Southwest overlooking Capitol Lake.
The third site under consideration was undeveloped land on Harrison Avenue Northwest at Kaiser Road Southwest.
The downtown site on Plum Street Southeast is the current home of Olympia’s Lee Creighton Justice Center. Plans call for demolishing that and putting the city’s municipal court in the new building.
The county said a plan to finance the new courthouse — which could cost as much as $316 million, according to a feasibility study — could go to voters in August.
Last week, Olympia Mayor Cheryl Selby asked commissioners to hold off a few weeks before making a decision on where to build to give city leaders more time to figure out how they would cover the cost of their portion of the project. That could be as much as $32 million, according to the feasibility study.
Tuesday’s vote came after an executive session in which commissioners “discussed financial strategies” for the three sites, according to the news release. No notice was given there would be a public vote following the executive session.
“They decided to take a vote on the courthouse following that executive session,” said Bryan Dominique, public information officer for the commissioners.
This story was originally published January 22, 2019 at 7:51 PM.
