Kalispell Public Safety Building undergoing renovations
<p>Jamee Cole, owner of Cole Acoustics, installs part of the grid for the suspended ceiling in a hallway of the Public Safety Building Thursday afternoon.</p>
<p>Douglas Smith, of Monster Electric, hooks up outlets in the new judges chambers Thursday afternoon at the Public Safety Building.</p>
Kalispell's Public Safety Building is a little messy these days, with several hundred thousand dollars worth of renovation work under way to improve security and heating and cooling systems at the former City Hall on First Avenue East.
Security and information technology upgrades are being paid for with a $250,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice.
As part of the project, Kalispell Municipal Court's offices will be moved from the back to the front of the building.
A new front window, like one already in place for the Kalispell Police Department, will let people pay fines without having to walk through the building and past court and city attorney offices.
An incident at the building was part of the impetus for pursuing the reconfiguration and security improvements, said Charles Harball, Kalispell's city attorney and interim city manager.
“We had one gentleman who had a little mental breakdown, if you will. He came driving up on the sidewalk and would have driven right into the building if not for the [concrete] barrier,” Harball said.
“He came in and saw my adjutant in his office, grabbed a fire extinguisher and sprayed Rich [Hickel] down with that. He had to wrestle that from [the man] and drag him down to the police department,” Harball added.
“It could have been pretty tragic ... he could have walked in armed and just gone down the hallway shooting people. This [project] will limit that.”
Also part of the project, roof repairs and heating and cooling upgrades are under way and should eliminate hot and cold spots and improve the building's energy efficiency.
That work is being paid for with a $96,700 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy and a $103,300 grant from Montana Department of Environmental Quality, Community Development Manager Katharine Thompson said.
“They serve different purposes but are much needed in an aging building,” Thompson said of the three grants and the work they are paying for.
All three components of the renovation work are expected to be completed by March.
According to a memorial plaque in the front foyer, the building was dedicated as the former City Hall in 1979. Today the building houses the municipal court and city attorney and the police and fire departments.
In an effort to keep down costs and complete all of the desired work, Mike Baker, director of city parks and recreation, is overseeing the project and functioning as the general contractor.
The project was broken into smaller components for subcontractors because earlier bids for the work came in beyond the amount of money available.
“We regrouped and decided we needed to act as our own general contractor because we couldn't make this [grant] money stretch far enough to do all the necessary upgrades,” Thompson said.
Reporter Tom Lotshaw may be reached at 758-4483 or by email at tlotshaw@dailyinterlake.com.