Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Ultimatum Issued For Courthouse

Clark County Judge Grady Runyan has issued the Arkansas Historical Preservation Program an ultimatum.

The group has two months to put in writing it will raise $2 million to restore and renovate the Clark County Courthouse, or it will be torn down.

Runyan said the organization will have a year to raise the funds, but must give him a good-faith document stating it will raise the money within two months.

Clark County's 98-year-old courthouse was one of the oldest in the state. However, when the tornadoes ripped through Arkadelphia on March 1, the building sustained heavy damage.

Windows were shattered, walls and ceilings cracked, portions of the roof were blown off and the new clock faces were demolished, as shown in the front page photo.

"I laid it out plain to them," Runyan said, "and the Attorney General's Office is with me."

The historical organization says it has a deed to the exterior of the structure, signed by Runyan, for a $150,000 grant for restoration purposes.

Mark Christ, with the AHP, said the group has an easement which is legal and binding.

Runyan said none of those monies were ever used and the group can have it back. "I have the power to decide the fate of the courthouse, and believe the county would benefit from tearing the old courthouse down," he said.

The county judge, during a news conference Monday morning at the Third Street Baptist Church, the temporary location for county offices, said he has never favored destroying this piece of history until the damage done by the tornado.

Christ argued the county's architectural firm, Twin Rivers, hired a structural engineer, who said the building is 99 percent sound, but has "cosmetic damage."

Runyan responded saying the Wade Abernathy Inc. general contracting firm of Magnolia estimated cost of stabilizing the structure between $1.25 and $1.5 million. The other damages add to this cost.

The Clark County Quorum Court had voted to renovate, restorate and add an annexation to the old courthouse before the twister hit. The overall project would have cost $3.6 million, including the annexation.

Now, Runyan said, it is simply too costly to go ahead with the project, adding the courthouse needs to be razed.

"We'd have to strip it all the way to the bottom," he said of any possible restoration effort. "I will not use the taxpayer's hard earned money this way to fix a piece of junk and satisfy historical people.

"We have a county to rebuild and better ways to spend the tax dollars."

On an interesting note, Christ said he didn't think his organization would want the courthouse if the county gave it to them.

This is the second round of arguments the historical group has presented to Runyan.

On Tuesday, March 4, Ken Greenwald said the group had $260,000 to help save the structure, along with other monies available.

Greenwald argued the building can't be torn down because of the easement without the county going through the historic commission.

However, at the time, Greenwald admitted he had not been inside the structure and did not know the entire situation. He said he'd like to tour the building with an engineer.

Runyan said in another 100 years people will still be concerned with the structure. "We've worked from day one to save the courthouse, but it's not saveable," he said. "The issue needs to be settled so we can get on with business."

Runyan said he could not, in good conscience, ask county officials and their staff to return to the old building because of the damage.

The county, he said, would be better and longer served if this structure is demolished and a new courthouse built.

Before the storms hit, and the annexation was approved, the quorum court had examined the possibility of constructing a new courthouse. These plans are still in Runyan's possession and could be modified and used at this time.

However, the county judge said he may approach officials with the City of Arkadelphia about building a four or five story complex to house all city and county governmental agencies, including the necessary courthouses.

This, he said, could be done with money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) because of the damage caused to local governmental structures by the tornadoes.

Runyan said Arkadelphia and Clark County have a unique opportunity because of the storms and the havoc wreaked in their wake. The city can literally rebuild itself in a new image, he said.

It could build a river walk to Main Street downtown, with shops, strip malls, restaurants, apartment complexes and motels along the walk.

"I think it would be wonderful," he said. "We have a beautiful hill overlooking the river, and other towns build from their rivers back."

So, from out of the ashes a new Arkadelphia could arise.

In the meantime, however, the Clark County offices are being housed in the basement of the Third Street Baptist Church.

Modular offices have been purchased, with approval of the court, to house the offices temporarily on the parking lot behind the old courthouse.

Once these offices are put together, some remodeling will have to be done, including carpeting and getting phone lines installed.

However, the county will be reimbursed for these units by FEMA.