By Vivienne Leyva
PIO Riley County
RILEY COUNTY, KS (June 26, 2025) Riley County will begin a window replacement project at the Courthouse Plaza East (CPE) building at 115 N. 4th St. in early July. To accommodate construction, public meetings for the Board of Riley County Commissioners and the Riley County Planning Board/Board of Zoning Appeals will be temporarily relocated.
Beginning Thursday, July 3, meetings will be held at the Riley County Health Department’s Family and Child Resource Center (FCRC) at 2101 Claflin Road. Meetings will take place in the lower-level conference room #124 on the west side of the building. Attendees should use the southwest building entrance.
Public parking is available at nearby facilities, including the EMS Station at 1115 Charles Little Road and the Health Department Clinic at 2030 Tecumseh Road. Meeting attendees are asked not to park in the upper parking lot of the FCRC to reserve those spaces for health department clients including pregnant women and young children accessing Maternal and Child Health, WIC, and Raising Riley services in that building. County Commissioners meetings will continue to be livestreamed on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@RileyCountyCommissionMeetings).Offices for
Riley County Commissioners McKinley, Focke, and Ford will also be relocated to the FCRC. In addition to meeting location changes, some county offices housed in the CPE building may temporarily relocate within the building during construction. Notices will be posted at the building entrance and on the Riley County website (www.rileycountyks.gov).The renovation project is expected to be completed by February 2026 and will address deteriorating windows that have led to water leaks, heating and cooling inefficiencies, and a declining exterior condition.
BHS Construction, Inc. of Manhattan is the construction manager for the $690,000 project and the windows will be purchased from Manko Window Systems, Inc. of Manhattan. “Investing in the building now will prevent more costly problems in the future and we’re fortunate to have capital improvement project (CIP) funds available for this purpose,” explained Riley County Commission Chair Greg McKinley.
Originally constructed in 1925 for the United Telephone Company, the CPE building was purchased by Riley County in 1997. Recent renovations to the fourth floor allowed the Riley County Elections Office to relocate into the space in 2024. The success of that project helped spur additional investment to make better use of the facility.For more information and updates, visit www.rileycountyks.gov.
###
Photos and map provided courtesy of Riley County
Find a PDF map at https://www.rileycountyks.gov/DocumentCenter/View/25840/MAP-ClaflinCampusBoCCMove
Riley County Departments located in CPE Building at 115 North 4th Street:
- Elections Division (The office will remain on the 4th floor during construction and after)
- County Counselor
- Community Corrections (The office will temporarily shift from the west to the east side of the second floor during the early part of the project.)
- Geographic Information Services (GIS)
Additional Background Info Courtesy of the Riley County Historical Museum:
Around 1939, the United Telephone Company was bought and absorbed into a larger, regional business, the Southwestern Bell Telephone Company. Southwestern Bell occupied the building for most of its history until 1983. This is why it is often referred to as the Southwestern Bell building or the telephone building.In addition to housing telephone companies, space in the building was also rented to other businesses including Smith, Smith, and Smith Law firm, the garage was rented out to Hockette O’Ralph garage, and at one point an apartment was rented out to George Fox and his family. All additional renters were relocated in 1940 because the national defense program would not allow tenants in the telephone building any longer.