Lewis County shows off central campus construction progress
Interim Lewis County Manager Steve Wohld, left, and other county officials take a look inside the new county Community Development, Environmental Health and IT building under construction at 125 NW Chehalis Avenue in Chehalis.
CHEHALIS – On a drive through the area just south of downtown Chehalis – along Main Street and Chehalis Avenue – and you see the formation of the new Lewis County central campus.
April is National County Government Month, providing an opportunity for Lewis County to highlight effective or innovative county programs and raise awareness of services provided by the county to the community.
Lewis County staff took the occasion to show off the progress being made on the soon-to-be home of the county’s Community Development, Environmental Health and Information Technology offices, at 125 NW Chehalis Avenue, kiddy-corner from the historic county courthouse.
The old brick structure has been cleaned and fortified with the addition of street-side windows and new corner entryways. It will be several months before the new offices are open to the public.
Lewis County Community Development employees Megan Sathre, left, Doyle Sanford, Mindy Brooks, Angela Strauss, Michelle Lohrengel, Community Development Director Lee Napier, Graham Gowing, Capital Facilities Manager Doug Carey, Facilities Administrator Alex Murray and Interim County Manager Steve Wohld.
“Layout of mechanical and electrical rooms will soon begin and then our electrician can follow up,” Lewis County Facilities Administrator Alex Murray said. “The nice thing about completing these capital improvement projects in-house is that we can speed up the construction process significantly.”
“The intent of the project is to create a central (county office) campus so that our customers can conduct county business in sort of a one-stop shop,” Lewis County Capital Projects Manager Doug Carey added. “Using in-house labor, where applicable, allows for flexibility in making design changes.”
Lewis County Director of Public Health and Social Services Meja Handlen shows off a drawing of the new office space.
“It’s exciting to see the new Community Development offices coming together,” Lee Napier, Director of Lewis County Community Development said. “The Community Development team is excited to be on the main county campus and anticipate the public will appreciate centralizing the location of county services.”
“The new environment for the county’s Environmental Health division will allow staff to meet customer needs more effectively and efficiently,” Meja Handlen, Lewis County Public Health and Social Services Director said. “The new location centralizes services and we’re real excited about that.”