By: James Joerke, County Administrator

Last year, the County Board approved a Capital Improvement Plan for County buildings. The plan had two main components: an assessment of current building conditions and deferred maintenance needs, and a plan for addressing a shortage of workspaces in County buildings, particularly the Courthouse and Law Enforcement Center. Under the direction of the Board, County Facilities staff and I have been working to get deferred maintenance projects underway and to develop preliminary plans for addressing current and future space needs. This is an update on the status of our efforts:

Law Enforcement Center

This past winter, the Board approved a contract with architectural firm BKV Group to conduct master planning for the Law Enforcement Center and court-related departments. The work was intended to address the lack of space in the Sheriff’s office and for judicial functions in the existing Courthouse, as well as the inability to adequately separate plaintiffs and defendants during court proceedings, putting the public and staff at risk. In April, BKV presented a preliminary plan for the addition of space for the Sheriff’s Office on the north side of the Law Enforcement Center and the construction of a purpose-built judicial center on the south side of the building. The total cost of the project was estimated to range from $27.9 million to $32.7 million.

The Board was uncomfortable with the idea of proceeding with the whole project but agreed to request from BKV a more detailed proposal for complete architectural services related to the Sheriff’s Office addition. That proposal has been completed and will be presented to the Board at its September 24 regular business meeting. The project would add deputy and emergency management workspaces, expanded space for evidence processing and storage, a sallyport large enough to accommodate modern squads and ambulances, and a dedicated emergency operations center that would double as a training space for County departments and external partners.

Courthouse and Community Center Master Planning

After its decision not to move forward with the judicial center, the Board recognized that there was still a need to address the shortage of workspaces in the Courthouse and to address the safety and security deficiencies in existing Court facilities. At its May 14, 2024, meeting, commissioners approved a second agreement with BKV Group to undertake master planning for the Courthouse and Community Center. The goal was to explore ways to make the current courtroom and adjacent spaces more safe and secure, to ensure a sufficient number of workspaces for several County departments and Cook County Soil and Water Conservation District staff, and to enhance the quality and functionality of the Community Center, which is one of the County’s most heavily used buildings.

Over recent weeks, BKV has interviewed County staff and Community Center user group representatives to understand how existing Courthouse and Community Center spaces are used, their deficiencies, and what would be needed to meet current and future needs. That work has culminated in a master plan that will be presented at the September 24 County Board meeting. The plan proposes adding a new office building behind and attached to the Community Center. Existing community meeting spaces would be reconfigured to improve room acoustics, and new spaces would be added for both county staff meetings and community functions. Access to the building would be modified to meet ADA requirements, and a new corridor would be constructed on the north side of the curling arena to provide a service entrance and address water drainage problems on that side of the building.

Deferred Maintenance

Work on the Community Center roof is nearing completion. The County Board approved a contract with LaFreniere Roofing of Grand Marais to do the work. The Cook County Museum is also scheduled to be re-roofed in the next few weeks; the contractor on that job is Rhino Roofing out of Duluth. Finally, the chimney at the Colvill Town Hall, which was starting to deteriorate due to crumbling mortar, has been rebuilt and fitted with a new flue insert. This will enable the roof on that building to be replaced as well. LaFreniere Roofing is handling that project.

Hiring of new Facilities Director

At its September 10, 2024, meeting, the Board approved the hiring of Brook Lessard as the County’s new Facilities Director. Brook most recently served as Facilities Director for North Shore Health and brings 20 years of experience in facilities operations and maintenance and capital project management. He describes himself as a “facilities guy” at heart and is eager to use his experience and professional contacts to accelerate the implementation of the County’s Capital Improvement Plan. One of his key assignments will be to lead the Facilities Department in making greater use of information technology in its management of buildings, grounds, and the County’s vehicle fleet. He is also expected to have a major role in overseeing new capital projects and doing long-term planning to put the County in a more proactive position in how County facilities are operated and maintained.

If you have read this far, I thank you for your attention. Feel free to contact me at [email protected] or 218-387-3687 if you have questions about any of the information in this column.

County Connections is a column on timely topics and service information from your Cook County government. Cook County – Supporting Community Through Quality Public Service.