After almost three years of planning the renovation and additions to the almost 100-year-old McIntosh County Courthouse is well underway.
“The approximate completion date is around June 15, 2025,” County Clerk Deena Farrow said.
On any given day, 10 to 30 people may be working on the project, according to construction Superintendent David Munholland.
When completed the new west wing will include a 10,000 square foot, three-story addition to the existing building and renovation of the interior of the courthouse almost top to bottom.
“The entire first floor of the new wing of the building will be a safe room, with access to the public,” said District No 2 County Commissioner Monty Grider.
The shelter will hold 400 people.
A recent tour of the project revealed construction crews busily working on the girders and flooring of the new wing.
The site was noisy, but may be music to the ears of the employees of the County Treasurer’s Office who will have expanded and modernized offices when all the work is done.
They can can see the work taking place immediately outside their west side windows.
“It’s not disruptive at all,” said Treasurer Betty Whisenhunt. “We may be disruptive of them with our snooping.”
The expansion and renovation will be a blessing to all of the employees in the courthouse, who for years have worked in cramped conditions using out-dated equipment.
Constructed in 1927 at a cost of approximately $100,000, the price of the project now underway is $6.2 million.
Most comments about the project have been positive, however some don’t like it.
“Primarily because they don’t understand the funding,” Farrow said.
She and Grider said the project is being paid for using funds approved by voters in 2006.
The voters approved a half-cent county sales tax to build a jail and for courthouse improvements. The tax was to be in effect for 20 years, expiring in 2026.
The jail was paid for in May 2022, but no money has been spent on courthouse improvements until now.
“It will be paid for with the sales tax money and ARPA money,” Farrow said.
ARPA is the American Rescue Plan Act that supplied federal money to state governments during the COVID- 19 crisis.
“At one time the ARPA grants had to be used for Broadband, storm water and public health emergency,” Grider said. “But they have loosened up on the grants and now states can use it for other things like heating and air and general government.”
Grider said the money left over after the jail was paid for federal regulations prevented the money from being spent be spent on roads, but it could be used on courthouse improvements.
After the commissioners committed to the courthouse project, they federal government loosened its restrictions on how the funding could be spent but it was too late. Money was already committed to the project.
The west wing will add about 30 percent to the courthouse floor space.
Extensive remodeling and renovation will take place throughout the old courthouse to bring it up-to-date.
There have been no major issues in the construction. The weather has cooperated. Getting material has been relatively easy. The courthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 22, 1985.
Architect Duane Mass, who specializes in historic architecture, designed the addition to the courthouse.
“To build a new building would cost north of $8 million,” his said. “And this building has good value. The building has a lot of historical significance and a lot of beauty in it we hope to restore.”
