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Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Ind. Courts - Randolph County Courthouse -- yet again
"Old Wal-Mart sought (again) for courthouse" is the headline to this story today in the Munice Star-Press, by Joy Leiker. Some quotes:
WINCHESTER -- For the second time in four months, the Randolph County commissioners have picked a former Wal-Mart store as the perfect place to hold courthouse offices once the existing 129-year-old building is torn down.On Tuesday, commissioners voted 2-1 to ask the county council's permission to appraise and pursue the purchase of the 54,962-square-foot store at 970 E. Washington St., which Wal-Mart vacated last spring.
It's the county's second attempt to acquire the building. In October, the county tried to purchase the building directly from Wal-Mart, but lost out to a Kentucky developer. That developer now is willing to sell the building to the county -- for $795,000. On top of the purchase price, the county believes it would cost about $600,000 to make the interior of the store useable for county office space.
The county council will consider the issue at its March 7 meeting. * * * But the mere mention of the Wal-Mart building drew jeers from the crowd Tuesday. Residents snickered when Commissioner Ron Chalfant talked about the building and said, "we need to move forward."
By moving forward, Chalfant meant it was time for the county to take the next step in its courthouse plans. On June 6 the commissioners decided, also by a 2-1 vote, to tear down the building and replace it with a new one.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on February 22, 2006 01:33 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts