A major part of La Plata County government moved this week into the newly remodeled Vectra Bank building on the corner of East Second and 11th Street. The move is part of a larger shuffle of local government offices that should be good for all of Southwest Colorado. For now, though, it is enough to know that county taxpayers will directly benefit from the county’s new digs and from the clarity and transparency the new space should foster.
About 35 county employees moved Monday into the new La Plata County Administration Building. Its more than 16,000 square feet now house the county manager, assistant county manager, the Assessor’s Office, the Finance Department, the Procurement Division, as well as the county commissioners.
As part of the overall plan, the county’s building, planning, and human-services departments will move to new space in the Tech Center later this year. The vacated space in the courthouse then will be taken over by federal courts and additional space for county courts.
The newly remodeled administration building has the virtue of being 21st-century throughout with the new quarters designed to accommodate the needs of a modern-day office space. That alone should improve not only the functioning of the county offices housed there but interactions with the public, as well.
The one exception to the building’s modernity is its Tomorrowland exterior facing 11th Street. While they may not be remembered as an architectural high point in American history, the 1960s were a part of Durango’s development and deserve to be remembered. It is good the county could preserve that touch.
The new Administration Building has been so thoroughly gone through that it now includes new wiring, plumbing and windows. And with that, it is seeking to become LEED Gold-certified and will use both energy and water more efficiently.
That comes after the county spent $2.7 million for the building itself back in 2011 and then invested $3.9 million on the remodel. That cost partly was offset by a $1.5 million grant from the state Department of Local Affairs.
For all the emphasis on the efficient use of resources and space, however, the real focus of the new building should be reflected in better government. Its centerpiece is the commissioners’ meeting room.
The new setup stands in marked contrast to the old Anasazi Room. It is open and well-lit with modern audio-visual equipment. The sound system will allow all to hear the proceedings. Drop-down screens afford a clear view to the entire room of whatever exhibit or presentation is being shown the commissioners. The commissioners have computer monitors of their own so that they, too, clearly can see whatever they are being asked to look at.
The net effect is meant to be what local government should be – inclusive, transparent and participatory. Attending a meeting of the county commissioners in the new room should be far less like watching some distant spectacle and more like what it always was supposed to be: a meeting between local officials and the county residents they represent.
No building can in itself create good government. But the new meeting room should foster a conversational atmosphere conducive to the kind of collaboration central to healthy local government. And if that was the intent, as it certainly appears, the new Administration Building is a harbinger of good things for La Plata County.
