The Pulaski County Courthouse renovation may be more disruptive to county offices than officials had hoped. Project liaison Nathan Origer told the county commissioners last week that it now appears that all of the courthouse offices will have to be relocated during construction, except for Circuit Court itself.
“Because of things ranging from where our one ADA-compliant entrance is to where the public ADA-compliant restrooms are in the building and the need to completely overhaul the HVAC system for the basement and first floor – the second floor has its own and the attic that could be done separately – it just seems improbable if not outright impossible to keep offices running in that building while construction is occurring,” Origer explained. Several paperwork and documents may also need to be packed in cardboard shipping tubes and shipped to the new location.
He also said that financial and legal constraints will prevent the county from overlapping the courthouse renovation and justice center expansion projects to save time. Additionally, he said the municipal advisor was concerned that some of the anticipated costs would exceed the caps the state has in place before an additional process would be required. But he stressed that there’s still plenty of time to address those issues.
Origer said the contracts with construction manager Tonn & Blank have been reviewed by the county attorney and bond counsel. He hoped to have them ready for the commissioners’ approval next Monday.
