New McLean County Courthouse - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

The small town of Washburn North Dakota has a brand new courthouse, but the fight to get it, hasn't been easy.

Tonight we take you on a tour of the new McLean County Courthouse.

"I think it's a nice addition to the community." Steve Lee said.

The last decade has been a battle for those wanting a new Courthouse in McLean county.

The battle started In the early 2000's, when residents voted against a new building.

"We also tried doing a remodel of the old courthouse and that was also defeated," Leslie Korgel said.

In 2010 a measure was once again put on the ballot for a new building and this time residents voted in favor of the idea.

"People voted about 67 percent to approve the process," Korgel said.

Which was a relief for county leaders, in 2010 part of the old Courthouse had to be shut down because of health issues

"We had a couple employees that contracted a disease called histoplasmosis and that caused us to shut down a major part of the old courthouse building," Korgel said.

The new building might be smaller than the old courthouse --- but the new facility allows all the county's services to be under the same roof, something the old building didn't.

"Traffic flows much more smoothly it's much more accessible, more storage space, certainly a much friendlier building for staff and people who come in here to do business," Lee said.

"We gain a lot of efficiencies and heating and cooling which will help with the tax load down the road," Korgel said.

A building these county leaders say took a longtime to get but, will last for generations to come.

The original plan was to demolish the old courthouse, but there is currently a court injunction against that process.