07 Jul Consultant: Restoring courthouse would cost $3.64M over 20 years

Mark Portell, Contributing | The Manhattan Mercury

Restoring the old courthouse at Westmoreland is the most expensive option for the long-term space needs of Pottawatomie County; and it still wouldn’t meet those needs. That was the message Thursday night from architect Clint Hibbs of BG Consultants, who reviewed the condition of the courthouse before a crowd of about 75 persons during a special informational meeting hosted by the Pott County Commission. Prior to the meeting in the Sunflower Room of the Public Works Office, county residents were given the opportunity to tour the 133-year-old courthouse, the second oldest in Kansas. The long-term facilities master plan completed recently by Hibbs recommends razing the courthouse and replacing it with a new structure to consolidate county departments now located in several different locations. “When we looked at all the scenarios, this presented the least cost,” Hibbs said. “Razing the old courthouse and building new is the most cost- effective solution.” Restoring the courthouse to functionality and maintaining it for the next 20 years would cost about $3.64 million, according to figures presented by Hibbs. Razing the courthouse and building a new facility to match would cost about $3.37 million over the same period. Razing the courthouse and replacing it with an office building of similar square footage would cost about $2.6 million. The estimated cost of restoring the courthouse does not include mitigation of hazardous materials (asbestos and lead paint), and restoration of the facility still would not meet the growing space needs of the county, according to Hibbs. “Even if we use the courthouse, we would still need significant square footage to meet the county’s growth needs,” he said. The Facilities Master Plan includes about $12.3 million in recommended improvements to all county facilities over the next 20 years. A portion of that recommendation includes the following:  Raze the existing courthouse and historic jail buildings and create a new consolidated county office facility. Relocate county services from the County Office Building and Health Department to the new consolidated office building and connect it to the Pott County Justice Center. Raze the existing County Office Building and construct a parking lot for overflow parking for the consolidated office building and justice center complex. Sell the Health Department facility. Should the commission ultimately decide to raze the courthouse, some components of the structure could be incorporated into a new facility, Hibbs said. “The building’s history and charms can be documented and celebrated creatively with new construction,” he said. Following his 40-minute presentation, Hibbs fielded questions written on note cards and submitted prior to the start of the meeting. Hibbs dealt only with questions related to his field of expertise while other questions went unanswered due to time constraints or the need for further research. One patron, for example, asked about the $650,000 set aside in 1960 for restoration of the courthouse. “I don’t know,” said Commission Chairman Pat Weixelman. “I was only 7 years old at the time.” After rumblings from the crowd, however, county officials said all questions submitted will be answered through some forum—perhaps on the county’s website. “We’ll go through all the cards and try to answer them,” said Peter Clark, public works director. “We have all the questions and we’re not going to throw them away, I promise.” Still others wanted further public forums in which patrons are allowed to express their views in a lessstructured setting. “This discussion is far from over,” Weixelman said. “As far as I’m concerned we can do this again. It’s not going to hurt my feelings. This is the biggest conglomeration of people I’ve seen in the nine years I’ve been here. “We’re not going to go behind your backs,” Weixelman said. “You’ll have plenty of chance to make your feelings known.”