Morgan County Courthouse’s $12M renovations underway, should take 18 months

A $12 million renovation has begun in the Morgan County Courthouse and officials said it is expected to take about 18 months to complete.

The renovation, County Commission Chairman Ray Long said, will include new waiting rooms on the third floor for the courts and second floor for license and tag office. He said the restrooms in the courthouse will be made Americans with Disabilities Act compliant. Long said they will also be replacing the entire heating and cooling system in the building.

Long said the project will cost $12 million, with $10.7 coming from American Rescue Plan Act funds, and the other about $1.5 million coming out of the County Commission general fund.

Michael Wetzel, County Commission communications director, said the second floor entrance on the north side of the courthouse was closed to the public about two weeks ago, and construction started immediately. He said the entrance will be closed for seven to eight months. Wetzel said Cotaco Park, also on the north side, is closed for equipment storage.

The parking on the north side of the courthouse will be closed to the public until further notice, Wetzel said. He said the adjacent parking lots on Line Street, on the west side of the building, and Cain Street, on the north side of the building, are for courthouse staff only. Public parking will now be restricted to the south side of the building on Lee Street, Wetzel said.

The state employees were requested not to park in the Lee Street parking lot, leaving more room for the public, Wetzel said. There are 86 parking spots, however 10 are reserved for the Sheriff’s Office, 11 are handicap parking, and five are for driver’s license testing. That leaves 60 spots for the non-handicap public. Wetzel said people can also park in the parking lot across Lee Street.

Wetzel said the new second floor waiting room will help with overflow from tag renewals or property taxes. He said it is expected to hold 30 to 40 people.

“The waiting rooms are going to help folks,” Long said. “Instead of waiting in line, they can just check in at the license department and then go have a seat and they’ll call them when they’re ready. So, it just makes it more convenient and easier for people.” The third floor waiting room is to help with people attending court, Wetzel said, and should hold about 80 people.

“We have a jury room, but sometimes they’re waiting out in the hall, and they need someplace to sit,” he said. “If 200 jurors are called, and it’s the very first day, and they’re trying to get to 14 jurors for the actual trial, that will give them a place to go while they wait to go in the courtroom.” Long said the third floor waiting room will also benefit people who have to bring their children.

“A lot of time people have to bring their kids, and they don’t have anywhere to sit down. They run up and down the halls,” he said. “This should give them a place to go and sit and wait for their time in the courtroom. … When they’re running up and down the halls, it’s loud for the courtrooms.” Wetzel said all the bathrooms in the courthouse will be redone to be ADA compliant.

“The bathrooms are going to affect the employees and the citizens coming in. Right now, the only handicap accessible that we have is on the first floor,” Long said. “The courthouse was built in the early 1970s. It wasn’t something they really focused on back then like we do nowadays.” After the second-floor entrance is reopened, the first floor on the south side of the building will be closed for seven to eight months or possibly longer, Wetzel said.

“If you come in the front door (currently) and you have to go through security, well, that part of security is going to be what we now consider outside; we’re going to add on,” he said. “It’ll be attached to the courthouse, under the steps.” Wetzel said it will give them more room at the entrance. The courthouse was built in 1973, and he said the building was not designed for security to be where it is.

“A lot of times there’s congestion,” Wetzel said. “Sometimes we have the jurors coming in, a lot of the public coming in. Sometimes the Sheriff’s Office is transporting inmates. Everybody has to stay where they are until the inmates are safely up the elevator. If that security wasn’t there, there would be a lot more room in the lobby.” They do not yet know what the dimensions of the addition will be, Wetzel said.

The heating and cooling unit in the courthouse is original to the 1973 building.

“Right now, we have an HVAC that runs the whole building. The first floor’s always a lot colder than the second floor, for example,” Wetzel said. “It should be where I can set the temperature in my office for 72 (degrees) and the person in the office next to me can set theirs on 75 if they want to.” Wetzel said a lot of the work on the courthouse is being done at night after the building is closed.

“People probably won’t be walking past a ladder or having to worry about something falling out of the ceiling tile while they’re standing here in line to get a car tag or a driver’s license or registering to vote or whatever,” he said.

The Morgan County Jail is also having work done to it. Wetzel said they are replacing all 52 HVAC units on the roof, as well as replacing the roof. He said the building is 20 years old and this will be the first time the units and roof have been replaced. Long said the cost is $8 million and most of the funds are coming out of the commission’s general fund.