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Thursday, July 10, 2008

Ind. Courts - More on: Randolph County Courthouse plans still up in air

Updating this ILB entry from July 3rd, Joy Leiker of the Muncie Star-Press reports today:

WINCHESTER -- Even with two new options on the table for the Randolph County Courthouse, officials learned Wednesday night that the least-expensive option for expansion is building an annex on the downtown square.

It's not a popular option, but compared to more than $13.1 million that could be spent on an empty Marsh supermarket and $16.5 million to build next to the county jail, the $10.7 million for a two-story annex next to the existing courthouse looks like the best deal.

The dollars and cents, and lots of supporting details, were the focus of a two-hour presentation by Lester "Spike" Shepler Jr., the project manager hired to lead the courthouse renovation. * * *

Commissioners likely will discuss Shepler's report at their next regular meeting July 21. Even if they decide to stay the course and continue with the annex, there's another stumbling block that remains in the way. The project doesn't abide by the Unified Zoning Ordinance and was denied a variance by the Board of Zoning Appeals to continue.

Accompanying the Star-Press story today is a very long side-bar headed "Randolph courthouse timeline." The introduction:
In the years since officials voted to demolish the Randolph County Courthouse, that vote has been reversed, officials have been voted out of office and now county commissioners and council members are working on a building project. The project’s history includes these milestones:
Here is an updated version of the story, with photo.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on July 10, 2008 10:42 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts