County exploring two options for old jail, sheriff's house

A new preliminary design shows tearing down the old Cole County Jail and Sheriff's House could fit the needs identified by county judges last month.

According to Presiding Commissioner Marc Ellinger, architects at Architects Alliance have come up with two plans - one that would tear down the structures and build a new facility while the other would save the outside and gut the interior.

Ellinger said Thursday that the plan for tearing down the structures would allow for a 2,200-square-foot-courtroom, gallery seating for 100 to expedite jury selection for long trials and have Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility for witnesses, lawyers, defendants and jurors.

It would also allow the county to move the county assessor and the public defender's offices out of the Carnegie Building.

Ellinger said the plan to keep the outside facade would have a smaller courtroom, judges chambers would be on a floor below the courtroom and there would not be enough room to move the public defender's office so the county would have to keep the Carnegie Building.

As part of their plans for long-term facility needs, commissioners have said they want out of the Carnegie Building due to increased costs of maintenance. They also wanted to find a place to put the county assessor and collector's office in the same building.

Ellinger said the costs are still being hammered out, but he believes it would be below the $2 million to $2.5 million threshold he had said he could support. If it's more than that, Ellinger said doing the project was out of the question. The money to pay for this work would come out of county reserves.

Commissioners seem inclined to keep the meeting about what to do on these facilities a day meeting, scheduled now for 9 a.m. April 16. Historic preservation groups have said that the public should have a chance to see and discuss these matters and that night meetings would allow for more people to come.

Ellinger said they want to keep the process moving and on the 16th they'll have presentations from Architects Alliance and then look at their three options: renovate, tear down or not do anything at all. He added the public is welcome to attend and give its thoughts.