Mold forces county offices to move

• Griggs County Courthouse

The Griggs County Courthouse houses the county’s sheriff’s department and social services department. The offices are forced to move because of health concerns, including mold. (www.griggscountynd.gov)

Talk about it

The Griggs County sheriff and social services departments moved into mobile mini-offices on the courthouse property this week because of safety and health concerns, such as mold, in their quarters in Cooperstown, N.D.

They could be displaced for two years or longer while the county decides what to do with North Dakota’s oldest courthouse — built in 1883-84 — still in use today.

The social services department has five full-time and one part-time employee, while the sheriff’s department has four full-time employees, plus one deputy who is shared with neighboring Steele County.

An architect said it could cost as much as $3 million to properly remodel the building.

Such a project would require voter approval, and the earliest a vote probably could be set would be June, County Auditor Cindy Anton said.

The Griggs County Commission met earlier this year with representatives of the State Historical Society of North Dakota to learn what repairs, remodeling or building additions could be done without jeopardizing the building’s designation on the National Register of Historic Places.

This week, the County Board met with architects from Michael J. Burns, Architect, Ltd., Moorhead, to discuss courthouse conditions and to hear options and cost estimates.

Preliminary estimates indicate it could cost $1.5 million to build a new addition, which would provide office space for the two displaced departments and to address accessibility issues.

Remodeling the existing historic building could cost about $3 million.

Architects said a potential option of building an entirely new courthouse could cost nearly $5.4 million.

Besides mold, the courthouse also is affected by coal dust from the furnace and hazardous materials such as asbestos and lead paint, according to the architect’s report. Safety code improvements also would have to be made.

“We just met with the architect,” Anton said. “Our second step is to figure out, footage-wise, how much space we need.”

Once the County Board agrees on a plan, it will present it to the public.

“Hopefully, by June, we’ll be voting on it,” she said.

Reach Bonham at (701) 780-1110; (800) 477-6572, ext. 110; or send e-mail to kbonham@gfherald.com.

Tags: north dakota, griggs county courthouse, cindy anton, news