ALAMOSA — In December 2023, Alamosa State Bank donated its old downtown Alamosa building to Alamosa County. The county's contractors have been renovating the old bank into new, modern office space. This renovation is necessary to provide a suitable and accessible location for 12th Judicial District Attorney Anne Kelly and her staff and the office of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. 

At the Feb. 12 meeting of the Alamosa County Board of County Supervisors, the building was discussed, and the current roofing work that is being done. 

County Administrator Roni Wisdom said, "Right now things seem to be moving forward faster than they were before. Some structural issues have created change orders for us. I think that is because this is three old buildings put together, and nobody ever went in, and the new codes are creating thins…but it is progress." 

Commissioner Arlan Van Ry added that the Colorado Bureau of Investigation staff will occupy their offices in the building on July 31, further enhancing the building's role as a hub for law enforcement in the county. 

Wisdom followed up with this statement to the Valley Courier regarding the cost and status of the project. 

"The work on the District Attorney building is just now really getting rolling. We have had several delays because the original estimate came in much higher than anticipated and we have spent several months looking at ways to decrease the cost. At the same time, we went looking for additional funding to help offset the higher project cost. In the end, we had the same issue, not only is the bank building old but it is a melding of 3 buildings over a period of 117 years. 

All the mechanical, electrical, plumbing, interior, insulation, and roof had to be brought up to current building and energy codes. We have finally come to a project cost that, while higher than we wanted, is doable given the additional grants we received, which now total $1.26M. The total cost for the remodel is going to come in around $2.8M which is about $218/sq. ft., which was reasonable given current construction rates. We have been assured that the District Attorney will be in the facility by August 2025. 

"We understand that some may be very concerned about the increase, but we want to assure our constituents that we have worked diligently to keep that cost as low as is possible.  While the project cost was much higher than we wanted, Alamosa County continues to feel this is an important project for Alamosa and the San Luis Valley. The 12th Judicial District Attorney has to be accessible to citizens, local government, and law enforcement. We are confident this DA building will provide them with a home for as many years as it was a bank. 

"The Budget resolution for the increase was approved by the Commissioners. The reason for the increase is the timing of the project payments. In 2023, we budgeted $3.5M to do some of the work on the SRE building, but we only expensed about $813K because the majority of the project did not get started until 2024, which we had not anticipated. We created the 2024 budget. So, we estimated we would spend approximately $4.475M on the construction of the Snow Removal Building when instead it came in at $5.917M. This is why we had to increase our airport capital expenditures budget.”