The Pulaski County Commissioners made a decision Monday night concerning the future of the courthouse.
Pulaski County Community Development Commission Executive Director Nathan Origer presented the commissioners with a contract with Tonn and Blank to renovate the courthouse. Origer stated that an updated project cost from Baker Tilly was estimated at about $6.1 million which is an all-inclusive estimate of legal, design and construction costs.
Just to give comparison costs, Origer said to completely demolish the courthouse and build a new facility would be approximately $7.8 million. It would be $7.6 million to build a new facility at a new location, but keep the courthouse as it is.
He noted that any scenario would eliminate occupancy of the East Annex building.
The cost to move offices out of the courthouse to other locations during renovations is not quite defined as more information is needed.
A building corporation would need to be established as the county would pursue a lease rental bond, similar to the steps taken to finance the Justice Center project.
Commissioner Maurice Loehmer made the motion to approve the contract and Commissioner Mike McClure seconded the motion. Mellon made additional comments about the decision.
“Now comes the tough part where we do our due diligence to make sure we get a good end result and spend the money wisely – make it something that the community can be proud of at an affordable cost.”
The contract to renovate the courthouse was approved with a unanimous vote. The decision was met with applause from those who were in attendance during Monday’s meeting.
The next step would be to get a general commitment from the Pulaski County Council about financing the project.
Depending on how the council eventually approves a way to finance the project, the process could take anywhere from six to eight months, plus another 45 days in order to get all paperwork filed, bids approved, and other processes.
In the meantime, the commissioners, steering committee, and department heads will have time to review plans and designs for the project to put into a final plan to fund.
