Waynco Construction Inc., of Spokane Valley, is the apparent low bidder, with a base bid of about $900,000, for a project to remodel a portion of the first floor of the Spokane County Courthouse.

Ron Oscarson, Spokane County facilities director, says the project will include remodeling vacant office space on the north side of the main hallway on the first floor of the courthouse and doing some structural work to ensure the continued longevity of the building, which is located at 1116 W. Broadway.

Oscarson says he hopes the contract will be awarded within the next six weeks, but isn't sure of the construction schedule yet. The project will be paid for mostly with county funds, including some money that helped satisfy the county's required match for a grant used to renovate the courthouse tower, which it's just finishing up, but didn't have to be spent in that project.

The project is part of a five-year plan to renovate much of the 113-year-old structure, and will include shoring up the flooring, upgrading the electrical and communications systems, and exposing some of the original aesthetics of the building, Oscarson says.

Once the first-floor office space is remodeled, the county auditor's office will be moved to the first floor from its current location on the second floor. Eventually, the treasurer's office will be moved to the main floor, too, and the Family Law Court will be moved to the second floor of the building, from the first floor, he says.

Originally, the bids for the project included several alternates, and Waynco had bid a total of $1.4 million for the base bid and the alternates. The alternates included remodeling the first floor's main hallway, the assessor's office, which is located on the south side of the hallway, and relocating the security check-in, Oscarson says.

Now, the county has determined it doesn't have enough money to complete the alternates and still is considering how to handle the security check-in so that the courts have the security required by law, but other county offices are more accessible to the public.

The county hasn't determined a total cost of renovating the building yet, Oscarson says.

ALSC Architects PS, of Spokane, designed the project, Oscarson says.