Skagit County will begin demolition work on July 8th to remove the fourth floor of the Courthouse building on W. Kincaid Street in Mount Vernon. The courthouse will reach 100 years of service this year, and the fourth floor houses a jail that was used for the first 59 years. The fourth floor is significantly heavier than the lower floors due to the reinforced concrete walls and jail structure. The County conducted a structural assessment of the courthouse building in 2019 that identified significant seismic deficiencies and recommended removing the fourth floor to improve the structural resiliency.
Skagit County was awarded an $800,000 grant in 2022 from the Washington State Historical Society in support of the project. Skagit County Facilities Management selected Allana, Buick and Bers, Inc. as the project architect in 2022 and issued a call for bids to complete construction in the fall of 2023. Four bids were submitted, and Dawson Construction was ultimately awarded the contract for $2,298,000 in February 2024.
Dawson Construction will complete construction primarily after hours with work starting at approximately 5:00 pm each night and concluding no later than 8:00 am. After-hours construction was required to reduce the impact on court proceedings and county operations during the day. The courthouse and county offices, such as the Auditor, Assessor, Treasurer, etc. will remain open during normal business hours. The rear entrance on north side of the courthouse is closed to all visitors. Visitors must access the building through the main entrance on Kincaid Street.
The parking lot on 3rd street immediately north of the Courthouse contains a crane and the contractor staging area, limiting vehicular traffic to all except ADA parking spots and deliveries.
