Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

JPs Agree to Annex Courthouse

A deteoriating courthouse led to heated debates on what Clark County needed and, inadvertantly, became one of the top stories in the region for 1995.

The historic courthouse, built in 1899, has many problems, including rotted wood on the staircases, posing possible dangers to those going upstairs.

Because of the problems, the Clark County Quorum Court and Clark County Judge Grady Runyan examined options on either remodeling and renovating or building a new courthouse.

In March, a county wide election was proposed to get the public's opinion on what to do about the courthouse.

The question posed to the voters was whether they wanted the current courthouse torn down or adding an annex to it.

During the quorum court meeting in March, the justices hotly debated the issue. Each voiced their opinion on what needed to be done and how best to do it.

In May, the court agreed to purchase a home behind the existing courthouse at a cost of $45,000. The idea was to raze this house and another one the county owns beside it and construct a new courthouse facility on the property, while renovating the existing courthouse.

Jerry Simmons, an architect with Twin Rivers Architects, informed the court a building of 8,000 to 10,000 square feet could be constructed on the site with no problem.

In June, the court made a roundabout motion which was passed, failed, researched and passed again, and amounted to constructing a new courthouse facility on property owned by the county on Crittenden Street, behind the current courthouse.

The new facility was to be 15,500 square feet originally, and later changed to 17,000 square feet, at a cost of $1.3 million. The design included 11 county offices, a circuit courtroom with a judge's chamber and law library.

Runyan said, at the time, the existing courthouse wouldn't be abandoned to ruin as the Arkansas Historical Association had discussed a grant to renovate the structure.

Twin Rivers drew up plans for the one-story court complex, and Runyan proudly displayed them. He said the best part of the entire deal was county residents would not have to pay a dime in new money for the structure.

This was because the county had the money on-hand for construction on the complex. The money came from the sale of the former Clark County Hospitality Care Unit.

For a while it appeared as though the one-story idea would be the one used. However, some of the justices didn't like the concept and voiced their opinions accordingly. A member of the court's budget committee threatened to hold up appropriations if a two-story structure wasn't built instead.

Larry Thomerson, from Gurdon, wanted a two-story 20,000 square-foot courthouse with two courtrooms.

It was moved to build a 20,000 square foot two-story courthouse. The motion was seconded, yet failed 9-2.

It was then moved to annex 1,200 to 1,800 square feet onto the current courthouse's west side. This meant more research and another meeting of the county's governing body.

However, in October, the court again debated the issue. They were shown a three-dimensional computer-generated picture of what the annexation would look like. This allowed the justices to examine it from all angles.

They liked what they saw and agreed to the renovations. These included adding 8,785 square feet to the first floor, with 4,950 square feet to be added to the second story.

All county offices will be expanded, the asbestos removed from the roof, the basement sealed, insulated windows installed and a new heating and air conditioning unit put in, along with a sprinkler system.

However, the annexation will cost more than the $1.3 million for the one-story structure. In fact, the court was informed the cost to renovate and annex would be $2,492,250.

Runyan said this wouldn't be a problem as the county had $2 million in hand and could pulll the rest from county general funds when it's needed.

These plans were formally approved by the court in November, with Twin Rivers told to go ahead with the plans.

Bids on the project, according to Runyan, should be let in April 1996, with construction to begin shortly thereafter. He said it should take about a year to complete the project.