Benton County plans to open its 7,500-square-foot, single-story Benton County Public Services Building this month.

The new building will house the county’s planning, building and public works departments.

The building features composite siding, a steel roof and standard office interior.

It’s located at 102206 E. Wiser Parkway in Benton County, near Cottonwood Drive, directly across from Columbia Sun RV Resort.

The project cost $1.7 million, which didn’t include the price of the land, as it was already owned by the county. The county bought it several years ago for the road maintenance shop.

While the building department is located in Kennewick, historically Benton County has not had representation from the planning and public works departments in the Tri-Cities. The new building brings staff from both departments to the Tri-Cities, the population center for the county.

It also puts all three departments, which work together on many types of permits, together in the same building for the first time. This should provide a more streamlined interaction between departments to improve the permitting process for the public.

Cortner Architectural Co. of Spokane provided the design work.

Banlin Construction of Kennewick was the general contractor.