The replacement of the elevator at the Pulaski County Courthouse has been delayed slightly. “Because we got no bids on the elevator project, we had to push the date back for construction,” Maintenance Supervisor Jeff Johnston told the county council and commissioners Monday. “With pushing it back to March, we were able to get three interested parties.”
Johnston presented an updated timeline for the bidding process. “They’re due to be in on the 15th of January, opened on the fifth of February,” he explained. “Construction begins in March, first of March.” Construction is expected to take about six months.
The elevator replacement comes after the American Civil Liberties Union sued the county over a lack of accessibility at the courthouse. County Attorney Kevin Tankersley explained that moving the project timeline creates a few legal challenges. “Those dates are getting put into a stipulation or an agreement between us and the ACLU, and that is being submitted to the federal judge,” Tankersley said. “And that was already submitted once, so we’re having to amend that order. It’s not the end of the world, but I’m just saying that we don’t want to move those dates if we don’t have to.”
Johnston was confident that this would be the last change.
