SHAWANO, WI- Shawano County supervisors received their first detailed look at the future Shawano County Government Center Tuesday as project leaders unveiled interior renderings and provided an update on the project’s timeline, construction process and financing.
Kurt Berner of The Samuels Group told the County Board the project remains on schedule, with the first construction bid package expected to be released in August.
“The development of the project is progressing on track. Still shooting to have Bid Pack One that’ll go out sometime in August,” Berner said. “Our goal is to do that bid pack one, which would be an early bid pack putting foundations, and then the balance of it would be in November.”
The presentation included computer-generated renderings that gave supervisors a preview of the building’s interior. Berner noted the images are intended to represent the overall design, although some colors and finishes may differ slightly in the completed building.
One of the project’s major features will be a secure main entrance. Visitors entering the building will first pass a staffed security station before accessing county departments.
“If you will remember, security at that front door was a key component,” Berner said. “What Venture has done is they’ve come up with a very good layout on this project to keep the public flow so that it is safe and secure. It’s easy for people to get to departments. There’s a good wayfinding process, and it’s really going to enhance what it looks like in regards to being able to get into that space.”
Department offices will include public waiting areas, reception counters and adjacent conference rooms where employees can meet privately with visitors without allowing unrestricted access into staff work areas.
Berner said the design also reflects the character of Shawano County.
“The finishes that they’re utilizing here have really been driven by the environment in Shawano County,” he said. “Something that tied back into the land, the water, the imagery that’s in Shawano County. I think they’ve done a good job of expressing something that fits your community.”
The new County Board room will be located near the building’s entrance, reducing the need for visitors to travel through the rest of the facility. The room will feature movable tables, allowing the space to be reconfigured for meetings and other events.
The second floor will include large photographic displays highlighting Shawano County.
“That imagery will be selected by you, the county,” Berner said. “Doing that down the public corridors to be able to represent what this does historically for your community is going to be key.”
Renderings of the courtroom floor also showed digital displays outside each courtroom that will provide scheduling information and assist visitors with wayfinding.
During the question-and-answer session, supervisors asked whether employees would have separate entrances to the building.
“There is,” Berner responded. “It would be a matter of how you would decide to program your access control… staff members can swipe and go right in. They don’t have to go through the front.”
Supervisors also asked whether local contractors would have opportunities to work on the project.
“We’re breaking this up into multiple bid packages, smaller ones to encourage that,” Berner said. “All of them will be allowed to bid as long as they can provide a bid bond and have done that work.”
Following the design presentation, municipal advisor Carol Wirth of Wisconsin Public Finance Professionals outlined the financing schedule for the project. She said the county’s first borrowing would total approximately $29 million as part of the County Board’s previously approved authorization to borrow up to $121 million for the courthouse and jail project.
“We’re going to call them $29 million of General Obligation Promissory Notes,” Wirth said. “Every time we do a borrowing, it would coincide with the construction draw schedule for the project.”
Wirth said she will return to the County Board in August with updated interest rate information before supervisors consider moving forward with the first phase of financing.
Construction leaders said additional renderings and material selections will be presented as the design process continues ahead of construction later this year.
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