'Not going to demolish the county courthouse': Officials updated on proposed justice center

"We are not going to demolish the county courthouse."

That was one point Morgan County Commissioner Bryan Collier wanted to emphasize during a two-hour workshop Friday involving members the board commissioners and Morgan County Council.

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Collier said several people, including a family member, have asked him if he wanted to demolish the historic courthouse.

Collier said neither he nor any other county official had expressed an interest in demolishing the building.

"We are planning on an extensive renovation of the building," he said.

The meeting held Friday was to update council members on the current plans and ask for direction in planning the proposed county justice center, which would be located at what is now the Morgan County Administration Building at 180 S. Main St., Martinsville.

Collier said this is the biggest project the county has ever considered.

When presented several months ago, the plan involved four phases.

The first phase involves enlarging the parking area and construction of a new building on county fairgrounds property to house the county extension office, the solid waste office, and the soil and water office.

Also, a new security annex will be constructed on the west side of the current county administration building. The estimated cost for this phase is around $16 million.

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The second phase involves construction of a new judicial building on the site of the parking lot on the west side of the administration building. A new parking lot will also be constructed on the north side of the administration building. The cost was estimated at $24.5 million.

The third phase involves the complete renovation of the current courthouse. The roof and windows would be replace, the interior would be "gutted" and turned into offices for county departments, and the facade would be repaired. Cost is estimated at around $19.24 million.

The fourth phase involved the renovation of the current administration building. It would house those departments that are involved with the courts such as the clerk, prosecutor and probation departments. Estimated cost is around $12.5 million.

Overall, the total cost of the four phases was north of $72 million.

Proposed changes

Collier said the council is the group which will control the growth of the project.

He said it will have to determine how much money the county will spend on it and it will be up to the council to determine how the county will pay for the project.

Collier said one change in phase one involves the parking lot. The county had planned a parking garage instead of a parking lot. Now, by going to a parking lot, the county will save funds that can be used later in the project.

Collier said the county might delay construction of the building at the fairgrounds to a later date which will provide additional funds.

For phase two, Eric Ratts, of architecture and design firm DLZ, said the justice center building was reduced in size by five feet on two sides. That resulted in around a million dollars in savings. The estimated cost would go from around $24.5 million to around $23 million.

Ratts asked the council about adding a third floor to the judicial building. The estimated cost for the third floor is around $5.5 million.

For the most part, members of the council agreed it made sense to build the third floor during the initial construction instead of later.

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They felt that if it was done at a later date, it would cost more and understood the county could end up with a fourth superior court in the future.

But, one hesitation was that many members of the council felt they could not justify to the taxpayers spending more that $5 million on a "shell" that could remain empty for an extended period of time.

While they could not officially vote during the workshop, each council member agreed now was not the time to construct the third floor.

Justice building design

Ratts said DLZ had met with the judges and security officers in the courthouse.

He said the security department wanted to make sure everyone could be kept separate, inmates away from witnesses, jurors away from members of the public and better security for the courtrooms.

Now, due to the construction of the courthouse, there is no way to keep the groups separate, everybody meets in the hallways and restrooms.

Ratts said they used computer simulation to show what the judges would be able to see when in court and that the judges and security officials agreed with the current plans.

Funding discussion

The county council asked county auditor Dan Bastin to look at funding options available to pay for the project.

It also discussed the building the probation department is in. Called the Toner Building, it is in need of major renovation. Commissioner Kenny Hale said there has been interest from some people about the building.

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There was a discussion on the current location of the prosecutor's office. Now located in the former Reporter-Times building on South Jefferson Street.

The county has a 10-year lease on the property. There was some discussion about putting the county health department in the structure.

Collier said the county will need to meet again in a month or so to review plans and give them directions.

This article originally appeared on The Reporter Times: Morgan County County Council, commissioners updated on justice center