Grand
Forks County
Dedication
Ceremony
April 19, 2000
Left
to Right: Gary Malm, Dave Braaten, Tom Saddler, Keith Berger, Connie
Tripplett, Dan Hill, Doris Bring, William “Spud” Murphy, Ed Nierode and Jim
Odegard.
Ground
Breaking Ceremony
May
17, 1998
Building
for the future
Grand Forks County was created by the 1872-1873 territorial legislature. The County was named for the then-village of Grand Forks, which itself was named for it’s location at the junction of the Red Lake River with the Red River of the North. Government was organized, with Commissioners designated in 1873, and although initiated, organization was not completed until 1875.
The election for the first Court House was held May 8, 1879, with a majority approving bonds of $10,000.00 for construction. The election for the new Court House was held November 5, 1912, and approved for bonds of $200,000.00. Additional space was badly needed, and in 1960, a substantial addition became a reality. The West Wing included a Jury Courtroom, with Court administration offices, Sheriff’s quarters and a County Jail.
Faced
with an ever growing demand for space, the County purchased the former Midwest
Savings and Loan Building and Annex, and after extensive remodeling, relocated
all county administrative and support offices, County Extension offices and
Juvenile into the County Office Building. The
Sheriff’s Department was relocated in the Annex facilities.
The last of the relocation of the administrative and support offices was
completed in December of 1995.
The
Flood of April, 1997, changed the face of Grand Forks forever, including the
total destruction of several of the county’s properties.
But change can be positive, and today officially marks the beginning of a
new era, and a new century of progress for Grand Forks County.
As a result of local, state and most certainly federal government,
today’s dedication is a salute to the public spirited cooperation of these
governments in combining agencies in one location to better address the needs of
the public that government serves.
County Office Building Trivia
1.
The county office building is standing on 22,000
lineal feet of concrete-filled steel piling.
2.
Over 70 tons of reinforcing steel were used in the
pile caps and foundation grade beams.
3.
Over 4000 cubic yards of concrete have been
used in the construction of
the pile caps, foundation grade beams
slab on grade, elevated floor slabs and
exterior sidewalks.
4.
The structural steel frame of the building
weights of 656 tons and is connected with over
17,000 bolts.
5.
There are 1180 pieces of architectural precast on
the building with a combined weight of over 3,540,000 pounds of concrete. The
heaviest piece weighs 14,720 pounds
6.
Over 950 cubic yards of concrete were used in
the pouring of the architectural precast.
7.
12 1/2 miles of electrical conduit were installed.
8. Over 52 miles of wire were installed.
9.
Over 1700 light fixtures, 2700 switches and
outlets, and 500 fire-alarms were installed
throughout the building.
10.
70 tons of galvanized sheet metal were used to
construct the heating and cooling duct work
system.
11. 46,000 feet of
various sizes and types of pipe were used
for both the sprinkler and domestic water
systems.
12. 25 1/2 miles of
ceiling grid support the suspended
ceiling tiles.
13. Over 550,000 square
feet of sheetrock were installed on
400,000 lineal feet of metal studs that’s
more footage than the distance between Grand
Forks and Fargo) and attached with over 1,150,000
screws.
14. During the month of
October, 1999, the project averaged
over 100 people working on the project
on every workday.
15. Total labor hours for the project are in excess of 200,000 hours and this does not include anything for the hours of off site manufactured items for the project such as structural steel, precast, doors, cabinets and so forth.
Program
Constance
Triplett, Chr.
Father
William Sherman
Honor Guard
Ribbon
Cutting
Ceremony
Invited Guest Speakers
Commissioner Triplett
Father William Sherman
Governor Edward T. Schafer
Senator Byron Dorgan
Senator Kent Conrad
Representative Earl Pomeroy
Mayor Pat Owens
Carol Olson, Dir. NDDHS
Kay Braaten, NACo
Dina Butcher, Dir. NDDCS
Retrieval of Colors
Grand Forks Air Force Base
Honor Guard
Immediately following the dedication, please feel free to take advantage of a self-guided tour of the County Office Building.
Grand Forks County
Commission:
Constance
Triplett, Chairperson
William
(Spud) Murphy
Arvin
Kvasager
Gary
Malm
Robert
D. Wood
Elected Officials:
Auditor
Doris Bring
Treasurer
Carol Christiansen
Sheriff
Dan Hill
Clerk
of Court
LaVonne Sigdahl
Register
of Deeds
Arlene Lucke
States
Attorney
James
Odegard
District
Judges
Bruce E. Bohlman
Lawrence E. Jahnke
Debbie
Kleven
Joel D. Medd
Kirk Smith
Appointed Officials
County
Agent
Morris Davidson
Tax
Equal. Director
Debbie Nelson
Highway Superintendent Richard Onstad
IS Director Dean Dahl
Social Service Director Keith Berger
Veterans Service Tom Saddler
Directors Adm. Ed Nierode
911 Coordinator Pete Eggimann
Juvenile Court Dennis Herbeck
Buildings & Grounds Brian Purcell
Planning & Zoning Carole McMahon
EOC Director James Campbell