Thurston County's general government offices completed their move to a large building at 3000 Pacific Avenue last week.
The Atrium, as the building is called, features 90,000 square feet of office space on two floors. The county started moving its offices to the building on Nov. 8. The last office to make the move opened to the public on Dec. 13.
Visitors to the building can expect to walk into a central hall flanked by windowed office space on both sides. Natural light beams in from tall front windows and large skylights.
New furniture provides seating in the hall for the public as they wait for appointments. However, much of the space remains sparsely decorated, giving it a stark and open feel.
This move represents a major milestone in the county's efforts to address its pressing space needs and improve its aging courthouse campus at 2000 Lakeridge Drive Southwest in Olympia.
In 2021, the Board of County Commissioners voted 2-1 to lease The Atrium from a private owner starting April 1. Plans for the move began to take shape in early 2021 after the county abandoned plans to build a new courthouse center in downtown Olympia.
The seven-year lease of The Atrium will cost the county between $1.5 million and $1.8 million, or $17.50 per square foot, and includes the option to extend the lease for three more years, according to the county.
Assistant County Manager Robin Campbell said the county chose this building because it best fit its needs. As for its layout, she said the county chose to have public facing services on the first floor.
"When we decided to lease this building, we made a very conscious decision to make it a space that would be convenient for the people that we serve," Campbell said.
A large customer service desk has been placed by the front door.
The Auditor and Treasurer offices share a joint counter in office space on the right side of the first floor. This area is also near the Assessor's Office.
"It's a joint counter because a lot of the things that you have to do in one office also involves something in another office," Campbell said.
On the left side of the first floor, is a new board room with glass walls and wide doors. It features more seating space for the public and board members.
"One of the really cool things about this room is if we have very large meetings, we'll be able to open these doors for overflow," Campbell said.
The doors open into the central hall and face a large monolith like fixture. Campbell said the county plans to attach a television and soundbar to this fixture so people can observe the livestream of the meeting from the hall.
The county designed the meeting room this way to accommodate two incoming county commissioners and the eight-member Board of Health, Campbell said.
The Board of County Commissioners approved increasing its membership from three to five members on Dec. 13. They also approved a new five district map. Elections for the two new seats will be held in 2023.
The second floor includes the county commissioners' individual offices. They moved their offices to The Atrium in mid-November, but board meetings still occurred at the old courthouse campus through December.
Board meetings will be held at The Atrium starting in January, Campbell said.
With the move complete, Campbell said the county will focus on meeting remaining needs, filling in vacant space and decorating where appropriate.
"There's little things like that as we walk through the building," Campbell said. "We're going, 'Oh we need this here. We need that there.' Not everything's been delivered."
In all, the following offices and departments have now moved to The Atrium:
• Board of County Commissioners
• Assessor's Office
• Auditor's Office
• Treasurer's Office
• Community Planning and Economic Development (CPED)
• Public Works Development Review
• Public Health and Social Services Environmental Health Permit Review
• Central Services Administration and Accounting
• Board of Equalization
• Information Technology
• Geodata
• Human Resources
As for the old courthouse campus, the county hopes to transform it into a so-called "Law and Justice Center."
Building 1 will house the Clerk's Office, Pretrial Services and the Criminal and Civil Divisions of the Prosecuting Attorney's Office. Meanwhile, Superior Court will occupy Building 2 and District Court will take Building 3.
Building 4 will include Public Defense, Drug Court and a Resource Hub. Lastly, the Sheriff's Office will take over buildings 5 and 6.
Campbell said the county has started working with an architecture and engineering consultant to develop a preliminary design plan for the buildings.
The county expects to have that preliminary design completed early next year, Campbell said.
She likened the county's plans to a domino effect, saying they aim to start remodeling buildings quickly and move office and departments one after the other rather than all at once.
"The consultant is working on what the timeline will look like and what our best opportunities are for each building to make the best effect of how we need to do the musical chairs piece," Campbell said.
