County Commission Plans For Growth With Purchase Of New Buildings

^{Parking lot for county employees behind the Washington Street buildings.}

Almost 25 years ago, the County Commission hired an architect to study its future space needs. From a baseline of 89 employees in 2001, the architect projected the county would have 170 employees by 2011 and would need to expand its office space from 42,000 square feet to 79,000 square feet.

health department building in bardane — *^{Existing health department building in Bardane.}*

As of 2025, the county reports that it uses 67,000 square feet of space to house 158 employees in several downtown buildings and at the Bardane health department building. The 2001 study projected 441 sq-ft per employee, compared to the current 424 sq-ft per employee. The per-employee space numbers are a rough metric, but it gives a sense for how the storage, meeting rooms, and other space needs scale up with growth.

The population growth that was anticipated in the early 2000s was cut short by the 2008 “great recession” — but it certainly seems to have arrived now. We can speculate on whether the county population grows by 10,000 or 20,000 (or more) over the next decade — but it is clear that the existing facilities are beyond capacity to support any additional staff growth.

office in the smoot building — *^{Smoot building office}*

In addition to quantity, the county reports significant issues with the quality of the existing office space. The words “old, non-functional, and decrepit” were used during the a County Commission meeting last year following a presentation on the county’s existing buildings by Laura Kuhn, the county’s Director of Fleet & Facilities Management.

Parking also factored into the county’s analysis. Even if the existing buildings could be renovated to modern standards, the existing employee parking lot behind the Washington Street buildings (shown above) can’t be expanded beyond the 110 spaces reported by Kuhn. In contrast, the new facilities together will provide almost 500 on-site parking spaces to serve both employees and visitors.

A Decision To Move Forward

To address its current office space needs and accomodate future growth, the Jefferson County Commission voted last November to purchase the 91,000 square foot building located at 393 North Lawrence street. It expects to close on the transaction in July.

The County Commission began using the large meeting room on the first floor of the Lawrence Street building on July 17 2025. The Commission has said will complete minor renovation work on the office spaces this summer and fall and it expects to complete the relocation of staff from the Washington Street buildings and the Bardane center by the end of 2026.