Local News

Story published: 02-05-2013 • Print Article • E-mail Story to a Friend

Downtown courthouse renovations rotated

By Karen Sells
Assistant Editor

A change to the renovation plans for the county commission chambers in the downtown courthouse will return the second floor courtroom to its original design.

“We have rotated the room 90 degrees,” Mayor Dan Eldridge said during the Jan. 28 commission meeting. “By doing this, we’ll have more space for commissioners and more seats for the audience.”

Eldridge said the courtroom operated in this layout, with the judge facing in the direction of Main Street, until a major renovation of the whole building was completed in 1986.

Because returning to this format will increase seating space for the public, the courtroom will be walled off at the support columns to create an additional conference room.

According to Eldridge, subcontractors will be hired in-house to handle the work rather than bidding the project to a general contractor, which should save the county a lot of money.