Politics & Government

Waukesha Commission to Review Preliminary Plans, Zoning Change for New County Building

$36.7 million Health and Human Services building project will replace current 100-year-old facility

Waukesha County is seeking city approval for its plans for the new $36.7 million building that is to be located along Riverview Drive in the .

The Plan Commission is being asked to approve rezoning the property from a park district to an institutional district. The county also is seeking approval of preliminary plans for the three-story, 137,017-square-foot building.

The Plan Commission is scheduled to take up the project at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at , 201 Delafield St.

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The new building will house the Department of Health and Human Services, Veterans Services and the Aging and Disability Resource Center, replacing the current Health and Human Services building and the Public Health Center, according to a Sept. 17, 2010, county document.

The project has been in the planning stages for several years, said Allison Bussler, Waukesha County Public Works Director. The county anticipates completing the final design and putting the project out to bid this spring.

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Construction would start in spring 2012 and be completed in 2014, Bussler said.

The $36.7 million includes all aspects of the project, including the designs, engineering and construction, Bussler said.

“So far we are on time and on budget,” Bussler said.

The current building was constructed 100 years ago and cost $1.275 million for its most recent renovations in 1996, which was anticipated to extend the life of the building by 10 to 15 years, the document states.

“That building, constructed in 1911, has served the county’s needs for many years,” the Sept. 17, 2010, document states. “However, it was never meant to be an office building.”

The Public Health Center also has gone through many renovations but was not designed for its current use, the document states.

“Finally, it makes organizational sense to include the ADRC and Veterans Administration in the new HHS building, since both populations would be better served,” the document states.

Plans for either demolition or preservation of the current building have not yet been brought forward but could in future budgets, the document states. The current building could be used as relocation space for court staff if and when there is a future project for the Waukesha County Courthouse.

Bussler explained the county board removed a study about the future of the county courthouse from its capital improvements budget during the budget process in the fall.

“That is a question that is still out there,” Bussler said.


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