Separate public safety buildings being planned for city, county

After years of planning and playing musical chairs between buildings, Pitkin County and city of Aspen officials are ready to spend nearly $60 million to rectify space issues in the county courthouse, City Hall and elsewhere.

Under the countys facilities plan, the sheriffs office would move from the courthouse, where it has been located for 130 years, into a new structure immediately west of the jail, County Manager Jon Peacock said Thursday.

The roughly $20 million project calls for a 17,000- to 18,000-square-foot building, and the gutting and remodeling of the courthouse, which will get a third courtroom to handle an increased civil docket. The assessor and treasurer departments also are to be housed in the new building as the courthouse will be completely devoted to judicial services. A public meeting space would be included in the new building as well.

Obviously were short on those because were begging, borrowing and stealing from everyone we can at this point just to hold our regular public meetings, Peacock said, noting that county elections staff have taken over the county commissioners regular meeting room.

A facilities master planning process conducted in 2006 established space deficiencies across the county, particularly in the public safety realm.

If you think about it, the sheriffs department has been in the same building for the last 130 years, Peacock said. The practice and professionalism of law enforcement has changed a lot in that time.

There are different standards for evidence storage, and how and where interviews with victims and witnesses are conducted, for instance. The recession impacted putting the 2006 recommendations into place, but the Nancy Pfister homicide case earlier this year laid bare the current shortcomings of the sheriffs office infrastructure. Witnesses and relatives of the victim often sat in the hallway as other members of the public passed by, and investigators were forced to buy two large shipping containers to store evidence.

Design work for the proposed building is projected for next year, with construction to begin in 2016.

Were serious about addressing these needs, Peacock said.

The city scheme

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Separate public safety buildings being planned for city, county