federal building

With an eye on renovating the historic federal courthouse in downtown Missoula and streamlining government services, the City Council this week approved a number of initial funding tools to move the effort forward.

The board that governs the Missoula Local Government Building Special District on Tuesday approved the $293,000 operations and maintenance budget, along with the $246,000 capital improvement budget for the downtown facility.

Efforts to renovate the downtown federal building for public use is running roughly one year behind schedule, officials said Wednesday. But as the work advances, it will explore a range of grants aimed at energy efficiency.

With the downtown federal building now in public ownership, city and county officials are working to firm up the administrative body that oversees the property and get a firm handle on the cost of preparing the property for public use.

Work to renovate the historic federal building in downtown Missoula will begin soon as the city and county prepare co-locate services in the facility.