Groups ask for more details on new courthouse proposal

BENTONVILLE — Benton County organizations supporting a failed courthouse proposal want more information before backing a new plan.

Leaders do like that the latest plan keeps the court buildings downtown, they said.

The Quorum Court’s Finance Committee at a special meeting July 25 gave Barry Moehring, county judge of Benton County, the OK to pursue basic design plans for a “downtown alternative,” as it’s called in county documents. The committee is expected to discuss an appropriation request to start the design process when it meets at 6 p.m. Thursday.

Residents voted down a one-eighth percentage-point sales tax increase March 12 to pay to build an 87,000-squarefoot, $30 million courthouse on Northeast Second Street. The tax would have been for 54 months.

The new plan would use the three courtrooms in the 28,080-square-foot Benton County Courthouse. The former jail area behind the courthouse would be demolished and replaced by a building with four courtrooms. The plan would cost less than $15 million, Moehring said.

Drawings show a detention area and circuit clerk’s office on the first floor and two 1,700-square-foot courtrooms each on two other floors. The proposal would add 35,000 to 40,000 square feet for courts, Moehring told the committee.

The county garnered support from three chambers of commerce in the county, the county bar association and Bentonville and Rogers, among others, for the failed court proposal. Backing to build downtown remains intact, but some in the organizations have a few tweaks in mind.

Wayne Mays, CEO/president of the Siloam Springs Chamber of Commerce, said downtown parking is his chief concern with any new proposal, especially for residents who have to come from the west side of the county.

Moehring’s plan shows the county could add 80 parking spaces on land where the failed court building would have been built. There are no plans for a parking deck at this point, he said. A parking deck on Northeast B Street was part of the failed measure.

The county parking lot separating the courthouse from the County Administration Building also will be reconfigured, Moehring said.

The proposed lot would be for county business during work days but would be open to the public for events such as the farmers market and First Friday events, he said.

Moehring’s plan already has one backer: Bentonville.

Mayor Stephanie Orman said the city sees the proposed plan as a viable option. She said it’s a good use of tax dollars without having to go back to the voters, and the courthouse contributes to downtown’s vitality.