Renovating the Pulaski County Courthouse will cost a bit more than preliminary estimates suggested. Architect Eric Rowland presented his final report to the county council and commissioners Monday.
He said that since the initial report in August, he’s had an Indianapolis contractor familiar with historic structures audit the numbers. “Brandt [Construction] took a good thorough look at everything that we had put in and caught a couple of things that we hadn’t put in and then adjusted some of the numbers that we had,” Rowland explained.
An option to restore and renovate the courthouse, including the addition of a security checkpoint, is now expected to cost almost $4.9 million. But if Circuit Court were to move out of the courthouse and into an expanded Justice Center, the cost would go up to just under $7.7 million. A new option to build a larger addition onto the Justice Center allowing both Circuit Court and the Clerk’s Office to make the move is estimated to bring the project up to almost $8.6 million. On the other hand, Rowland said demolishing the historic courthouse entirely and building an even bigger addition onto the Justice Center could cost just under $8.8 million.
How the county would pay for the work remained a concern for Commissioner Kenny Becker. “We can’t hardly balance our budget now, or we can’t,” he said. “Where are we going to get the money to fund this? Is there any grants available?”
Todd Zeiger with Indiana Landmarks said there are a few grants available for certain parts of the project. But he pointed out that county officials were already planning to spend money on facilities, even before the current renovation plans began. “What prompted this whole study was the decision to move forward with a project to demolish the courthouse and do an addition,” he said, “and so the question about where the money’s going to come from, I respect that money will be spent. This study was to try and show you some different options that would be less expensive than what you were proposing to do to begin with and save the courthouse.”
Community Development Commission Executive Director Nathan Origer said that the project would be eligible for financing through the USDA Rural Development office, but it probably wouldn’t be enough to fund a significant portion. He said there are also ways that the county could extend the current tax rate put in place to pay for the Justice Center, but that might not be enough to cover the entire cost, either. There are other taxing opportunities the county could explore with help from the state legislature.
When it comes to the construction, Rowland believed that a courthouse renovation project could be completed in a year to 18 months, depending on which option the county chooses.
