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Open house slated Aug. 9 for Dave Stipe Annex

| July 17, 2025 12:00 AM

The Lake County Commissioners have scheduled an open house Aug. 9 for the newly constructed Dave Stipe Annex, located at the corner of Fifth Ave. and First Street in Polson. The open house will provide an opportunity for the public to walk through the new building from 10 a.m-2 p.m. 

Stipe served 16 years as commissioner from district two, which encompasses the southern end of the county including Arlee, Charlo and St. Ignatius. He died March 18, 2023, after a long and valiant battle with cancer.

Officials say they plan to complete the move of county offices into the new building the week of Aug. 11-15. The three-story, 15,828-square-foot building will house new offices for elections, land planning, environmental health, information technology (IT), and geographic information systems (GIS), as well as the Lake County Superintendent of Schools.

Construction of the building by Swank Enterprises began in late 2022 and favorable weather conditions for construction have allowed the project to stay on schedule for completion by the end of July. The total cost of construction is $7 million, which was financed by a combination of American Rescue Plan funds, a county-wide judgment levy, and a loan.