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Supervisors divided over Annex plans
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| By: ADAM NORTHAM, DAILY LEADER Staff Writer |
September 24, 2009 |
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The early findings of an architect's study into the old Courthouse Annex have been met with mixed opinions from Lincoln County supervisors, who thus far remain divided over their options to either renovate the structure, demolish it and build anew, or just leave it alone.
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Detailed courses of action for the approximately 60-year-old building at 304 South Second St. will be discussed during the next board meeting on Oct. 5, when supervisors will have better knowledge of cost estimates associated with the different construction options. Supervisors have previously discussed renovating the building and relocating portions of the Lincoln County Tax Assessor/Collector's Office there or demolishing the structure and building a modern, multi-story office that can be used by the tax office and possibly other county departments.
For now, county leaders are comparing the early findings revealed by Natchez's Waycaster and Associates Architects against their own vision for the future of the annex. All construction options are hinging on a limited county budget for fiscal year 2010 and the availability of grant funding for the project.
At least on supervisor favors starting over from scratch and potentially postponing the project until grant assistance is available.
"I will not vote for repairing the existing building," said District Two Supervisor Bobby Watts. "It would be a bad vote to put any money into that building from our county."
Watts has stood firm on his desire to see the annex razed and rebuilt since the discussion began early this summer, when supervisors tried to negotiate a renovation plan with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.
After voting not to renew the wildlife department's lease on the Courthouse Annex in January, aiming to make room in the old building for the tax office, public resistance forced supervisors to attempt to negotiate a new lease. Talks between the two entities broke down in July when each rejected the other's plan.
Supervisors wanted to halve the department's space to make room for the tax office and double the rent to $1,000 per month. The wildlife department blocked any renovation plan by seeking full use of the building at an extended $500 per month lease.
Now, the MDWF&P District Five headquarters is relocating to Magnolia by Oct.1. But supervisors still need more room for county functions and are planning to go ahead with renovations or new construction.
But Waycaster's Dan Dillard on Tuesday called the annex "not very adaptable," pointing out that many of its masonry interior walls are load-bearing and don't lend themselves to renovation. He also said almost all the building's systems, from electrical to plumbing to heating and air, are meeting and exceeding their useful lifespans.
Watts' resistance to renovation falls most inline with Dillard's assessment.
"I will not vote to repair that building, and I will vote to build a new building on the same site," Watts said. "I would want it to be two stories completed and a third not completed, but a place to hold our records. In time, if it was needed it would be there. And the way we're growing, it would be needed."
District Three Supervisors Nolan Williamson is just the opposite.
"To me, it can be reworked," he said. "That thing was not built on sand. I'm not an architect, but I don't believe all those walls are toting the weight of that roof."
Williamson said there are plenty of buildings in Brookhaven older than 60 years that are being revitalized, pointing to two years worth of successful renovations to downtown as an example. He believes the Courthouse Annex can still be useful, and he wants to renovate it and the current tax office in the Lincoln County-Brookhaven Government Complex to accommodate growth in the county and its functions.
District Five Supervisor Gary Walker is also leaning toward renovating the building.
"I think it's worth a shot," he said. "When you walk in, you go straight up a pretty wide hallway. I don't know how the others feel, but from about halfway up that hall to the front, there's offices all in there, and a heck of a conference room. You could put the mapping office in there."
Walker said he wanted to hear Waycaster's full findings on Oct. 5 before he committed to one course of action or the other, but he believes something has to be done to the annex. He and other supervisors have voiced their intent to relocate county records and some services from the Kees Building across First Street, where the county must pay rent.
District Four Supervisor Doug Moak declined to comment until hearing the full report from architects on Oct. 5.
Board president the Rev. Jerry Wilson did not return messages seeking comment.
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©The Daily Leader 2009
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