First Platte County Courthouse renovation contract awarded
PLATTE CITY, Mo. — Platte County commissioners awarded a $1.7 million contract to Axis Construction to renovate the former Platte County Sheriff Offices in Platte City for the Platte County Prosecutor.
It’s part of $20 million worth of renovations to the courthouse complex in Platte City covered by American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money. Platte County has to have that money committed to contracts by the end of the year or the COVID relief funds go back to the federal government.
“I put together a PowerPoint presentation where I talked about how the space of the Prosecutor’s Office was too small, we needed more conference rooms we needed more space to meet with victims,” said Platte County Prosecutor Eric Zahnd, referencing when he first was elected in 2003.
Zahnd’s office will move into space that’s already been vacated by the Platte County Sheriff’s Office, which moved to 11724 NW Plaza Circle, in Kansas City, Missouri in mid-April.
How a Chiefs-only sales tax question could work this year
The Prosecutor’s Office moving to one location will trigger a chain of renovations by freeing up space in the Courthouse for renovations to offices and courtrooms to better handle Platte County’s growing population.
“We’re really trying to take all those lessons we learned through that very difficult period and implement those so Platte County citizens don’t have to drive up to Platte City to do business with the county government,” Vanover said.
The goal is to have all that work done in 2025 because an even larger jail project is coming right behind it.
“That’s the big weakness in Platte County right now is the jail’s full,” said Zahnd. “We just don’t have space.”
Vanover expects the Commissioners will have to ask voters for a sales tax to cover the roughly $80 million in bonds they’ll need to pay for a renovated and expanded jail facility.
View the latest Weather Alerts in the Kansas City region on FOX4
Zahnd told Commissioners his office is involved in cases where prisoners attack each other or Sheriff’s Deputies with pieces of the jail they’ve ripped off.
“We need additional jail space and we need to reconstruct the existing jail to make it safe,” Zahnd said.
