HOULTON – Aroostook County commissioners should receive word by summer whether the state will move forward with a plan to consolidate court services in Houlton.

During a recent county commissioners meeting in Fort Kent, commissioners received positive feedback from State Court Administrator Ted Glessner about the county’s plan to permanently move the Houlton District Court offices across the street to Aroostook County Superior Court.

During a phone interview Tuesday, Glessner said the court soon would ask the Legislature for bonding authority to spend up to $2.5 million on the consolidation project.

The proposal first must go to the Appropriations Committee and then on to the Legislature.

“Basically, the plan is to go to the Legislature and ask the state to give us permission to do this,” Glessner said. “We believe that $2.5 million will do it. We have not done a project in Houlton in several years, and I believe that this is a worthwhile project.

“Aroostook County has invested money in the courthouse over the years and has kept up the building very well,” he added. “I believe that with these renovations, we’ll have a terrific courthouse for many years to come.”

Commissioners began talking about consolidating the two buildings more than two years ago, after a pipe burst in the District Court building and forced the staff to work out of Superior Court, where they continue to work today.

If the Legislature agrees to move forward with the project, the second and third floors of the Superior Court would undergo extensive renovation.

A new courtroom would be created on the second floor, so that the building would have two courtrooms, and a clerk’s office also would be located on that floor. The building would feature a more secure judge’s chamber, two functioning elevators and a new heating and air-flow system.

The third floor would house another clerk’s office, the jury deliberation room and a law library, which County Administrator Doug Beaulieu said would be upgraded to include more computer terminals and legal research software.

Once the consolidation is complete, the county would decide what to do with the District Court building. Beaulieu said commissioners soon will have an in-depth discussion about its future. The building, for instance, could be used by the county for additional jail space or to meet other needs.

The county also could decide to return the District Court building to the town of Houlton after it is vacated. The town turned the building over to the county in 1973.

Paul Adams, chairman of the county commissioners, said he and fellow board members were “very excited” about the possible consolidation.

“Its going to be great,” he said. “The commissioners are all on board with it.”

Beaulieu said officials should know by late June if the Legislature will approve funding for the project.

If that happens, the renovation could begin in November.