County looking at former box store for new jail

Flathead County has made an offer to buy the former Walmart building in Evergreen for a potential future expansion of the county jail, county officials confirmed June 2.

“It sounds like something we could certainly look at,” commissioner Pam Holmquist said. “Right now, we’ve made the offer and got no response. We’re just kind of waiting.”

Interest by Flathead County in the 130,000-square-foot former box store began with county maintenance director Jed Fisher when looked at the site for a county-owned community recreation facility. The ceilings are too low to convert it into gymnasium space, he decided.

“That’s when county administrator Mike Pence and the commissioners began looking at other options,” Fisher said. “There’s quite a bit of land there, too.”

Sheriff Chuck Curry was consulted after Fisher suggested the Walmart building as a possible site for a larger county jail. Overcrowding at the current county jail, built in 1985, has been a problem for decades. By 1992, daily prisoner counts often exceeded the number of beds.

Last year, the commissioners created a funding mechanism to begin setting aside money for a jail expansion. The county is reclaiming property-tax mills not levied from past years and earmarking the new tax revenue for a jail expansion.

The additional tax money, to be raised over seven years, is expected to generate close to $10 million. The tax levy is subject to annual approval by the commissioners and has been left in place for the coming fiscal year, Holmquist said.

The former box store building was constructed in 1995, and Walmart is paying a lease on the facility through 2015. The property is owned by RIC Kalispell Trust and had an appraised value of $10.1 million for the land and building in 2014, according to county records. The concrete block building has been empty since Walmart relocated to its Supercenter store in north Kalispell in 2009.

Commissioner Phil Mitchell said the county’s need for additional jail space is well-documented.

“We’re at the very, very beginning stages,” Mitchell said. “We’re asking, do we add on to the jail or do we buy? What the best value?”

Mitchell noted that if the owners of the Walmart building want too much money, “then it’s not worth it.” He said the purchase would be contingent on doing a “major study of seeing what the community wants.”

Holmquist said she has talked with Evergreen residents and business leaders about the idea.

“There was some excitement and a little bit of concern,” she said. “Like I told them, there’s not much to tell until we get an idea if we can secure the property.”

Commissioner Gary Krueger said the county does “have some interest” in the building, but he stressed that the feasibility of converting it for any use remains to be seen.

“As a forward-thinking person, I said, ‘Hey, let’s look at it,” Krueger said.