Brazos County begins $18M admin building renovation project
Watch the full story here:
Brazos County officials are preparing for a major renovation of their administrative building, with construction set to begin Monday as part of an $18 million project expected to wrap up in spring 2027.
"It's time to do some maintenance and upgrade and so I'm looking forward to that starting," Brazos County Judge Kyle Kacal said. "It's gonna be a little bit of an inconvenience, but you know, with a little preparation and patience, we're gonna get through this."
The project will start with work on the parking lot area for the admin building on Monday, meaning visitors may need to use the Roy Kelly Parking garage instead. Construction on the building itself will follow shortly after.
Project Manager Trevor Lansdown said the most disruptive phase will begin in mid-December.
"Demolition set to start about the middle of December is when it'll get really noisy, really dusty, and it'll really give us an opportunity to see what's behind everything in here because it's still kind of a mystery," Lansdown said. "We don't know what we're gonna find."
The renovation will include a new sidewalk and a relocated entrance for visitors. The project also calls for significant structural changes to support a fully poured second floor.
"We're gonna end up with some structural steel columns and new piers down on the first floor to support a fully poured 2nd floor, so it's gonna go all the way from here all the way to the other side," Lansdown said.
A centerpiece of the remodel will be a new state-of-the-art commissioners' courtroom.
"And where we're standing is right about where the new commissioner's courtroom will be in this corner of the floor," Lansdown said.
Kacal believes the new courtroom will improve public access to county government.
"And I think that new courtroom will enable more people to come and more people to watch and hear exactly what their county officials are doing," Kacal said. "Absolutely, it will be the center. Plus it's in the middle of an old sanctuary, so at least we know the big men will be watching."
Officials acknowledge the construction will create temporary challenges for visitors and staff.
"It's just like road construction, right? I mean, it's a minor inconvenience. It'll be noisy, it'll be dusty, all the things," Lansdown said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.