Montrose, CO—Montrose County Commissioners were thrilled to hear the news that U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper successfully advocated for funding of the county’s historic courthouse renovation. Hickenlooper included $7,725,000 in the recently passed 2022 omnibus spending package specifically for the Montrose County project. Hickenlooper requested funding for projects throughout Colorado via the congressionally directed spending (CDS) process.
“This is a huge step forward in the historic courthouse project,” said Commissioner Keith Caddy. “The courthouse is the center of county government—whether you are paying taxes, getting license plates, a marriage license, or visiting the assessor’s office, the courthouse provides key core services and I would like to thank Senator Hickenlooper and his staff for their assistance and support of this important project.”
“Accessible courthouses are critical to ensuring quality. This is vital infrastructure for Western Colorado,” said U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper.
“The courthouse project is important to me—it’s our history and legacy as a county and should be preserved,” said Commissioner Roger Rash. “This project would improve ADA accessibility for this facility, and it’s important that our facilities are accessible for all our residents. In my opinion, it’s time for a complete renovation—we’ve done enough band-aid fixes over the years, it’s time to make use of the space and anchor the county’s presence in downtown Montrose for another 100 years.”
In order to meet criteria, projects must be shovel-ready, clearly budgeted, self-sustaining, beneficial to the broader community, and administered by a government or nonprofit entity. At the conclusion of the design process in February of 2020, Montrose County received a construction cost estimate of $13.1 million. County staff are now in the process of adding this funding to financial models and capital plans. The commissioners will be taking the additional revenues and escalated costs into account moving forward.
