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Government Center Expansion
Updated: November 17, 2022
Growing With Our Community
St. Croix County is experiencing an increased need for additional services to meet the needs of our growing County. We are the fastest growing County in the state of Wisconsin. As the need for services increase, the need for space to provide those services also increases. To meet future needs of residents, the County proposed an expansion to the existing Government Center Building in Hudson. We began exploring the need for this expansion in 2012.
This expansion will be the first major renovation of this building since it was built almost 30 years ago in 1993. This new expansion and renovation of the existing building is designed to meet the County’s needs for at least another 20-30 years. The expansion will support growth in the coming years and increase efficiency in the services we offer residents. This project is divided into 4 phases. Phase 1 is in progress. Phase 2 was approved for funding at the County Board Meeting on March 1.
Some important features of this expansion include:
- Large centrally located entrance
- Easy access to all departments
- Space dedicated for health and human services
- Wide halls and elevators to improve accessibility
- More meeting space and courtroom space with technology upgrades
- More space to provide current and new services to residents
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Front Side of the Government Center
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Front Side of the Government Center
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Front Side of the Government Center
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Front Entrance of the Government Center
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West Side of the Government Center
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West Side of the Government Center
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Southwest Side of the Government Center
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Sheriff's Office Lobby Entrance
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Sheriff's Office Lobby Entrance
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Sheriff's Office Lobby Entrance
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Loading Dock
Designed With People and Growth in Mind
The County Board, with input from County residents and employees, developed the County’s Strategic Plan. One of the goals outlined in this plan is to “serve our growing population by providing well-designed spaces that meet the needs of the County.” This expansion is an effort to meet this goal and better provide services for our County.
The architects are using the feedback from the masterplan study and from employees when creating the new design. They also looked to neighboring communities like Eau Claire and Red Wing to learn what design decisions they made in their government buildings to serve their communities.
Read the 2020-2021 Masterplan Study
Some members of the County Board of Supervisors toured the Government Center to talk with employees about their work and space needs. Here are the photos from that tour:
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St. Croix County Child Support Office
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St. Croix County Child Support Office
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St. Croix County Clerk of Courts Office
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St. Croix County Clerk of Courts Office
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St. Croix County Community Development Office
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St. Croix County Clerk's Office
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St. Croix County Court Admin Office
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St. Croix County Hearing Room 1
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St. Croix County Hearing Room 1
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St. Croix County Hearing Room 2
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St. Croix County Hearing Room 2
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St. Croix County Hearing Room 2
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St. Croix County Jury Room
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St. Croix County Jury Room
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St. Croix County Courtroom
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St. Croix County District Attorney's Office
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St. Croix County District Attorney's Office
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St. Croix County Facilities Management Office
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St. Croix County Justice Services and Flex Space
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St. Croix County Justice Support Center
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St. Croix County Mechanical Room
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St. Croix County Meeting Room
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St. Croix County Register in Probate Office
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St. Croix County Register of Deeds Office
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St. Croix County Register of Deeds Office
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St. Croix County Sheriff's Office
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St. Croix County Sheriff's Office
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St. Croix County Storage Room
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St. Croix County Treasurer's Office
Protecting Our Growing Community
The expansion to the Government Center will benefit the public safety of the residents and visitors of St. Croix County. This expansion addresses the need for additional courtrooms, children’s waiting areas for family court, dedicated jury deliberation rooms, and more space for the District Attorney and Victim Witness Offices to offer their services.
The expansion also includes more space for the Sheriff’s Office to train, store evidence, and protect our community. Some of these new or improved spaces include:
- Public lobby
- Secure indoor parking
- Interview rooms
- Training rooms
- Evidence labs
- Evidence storage
- Airlocked evidence return area
As the need for public safety grows, so does the space and storage needs for law enforcement. The expansion includes additional space to securely house evidence for current and past cases. For crimes that include possession of firearms or drugs, the County must retain the evidence for as long as that case can be active through trials and appeals. For some types of cases, we need to retain the evidence for specific lengths of time. For example, we must retain evidence from sexual assault cases for 40 years. This additional storage space features room for large evidence items like vehicles and coolers for evidence that must remain at specific temperatures. To improve safety for both the public and law enforcement, this plan includes an airlocked evidence return area to allow for contactless return of items to the public.
Want to know more? You can find more information about this project in the interview and FAQs below.
Interview with River Channel – December 2, 2021
St. Croix County Administrator Ken Witt, Sheriff Scott Knudson, and District Attorney Karl Anderson sat down with Western Wisconsin Journal to talk about the Government Center expansion plans.
- What are the population projections of St. Croix County?
- What studies have been done on the space needs for St. Croix County Government facilities?
- What are the different phases of this project?
- What are the benefits of expanding the Government Center now?
- What is the cost of Phase 2 of this expansion?
- What are we doing to keep the cost down?
- What options were considered?
- What was the process for approval and timeline of this project?
- Will this impact the surrounding environment?
- Will this impact traffic or noise in the area?
- Where can I find more information?
Key Points
- The Government Center Expansion Project was approved for funding at the County Board Meeting on March 1.
- We are expanding the existing St. Croix County Government Center Building.
- As the fastest growing County in Wisconsin, this expansion will give us more space to offer more services to our growing population.
- Additional space will specifically benefit our public protection services.
- We have a current need for more space, which will only increase in the future.
- Securing funding early in 2022 while interest rates were at a historic low was important potentially saving the County tens of millions of dollars in interest and inflationary cost of building materials.
What Has Changed?
- The cost of the approved project is over 10 million lower than the initial proposal.
- The refinancing has been removed.
- Space previously marked for the Hudson Police Department has been removed from the plans or reallocated for use by St. Croix County. This space is listed as TBD in the floorplans.
- The scope of the project was scaled back but still meet the needs expressed by the County and its departments.
Have a question? Learn more in our FAQs.