Porter County officials break ground on new development

Child support services, other offices expected to move into old jail building

Porter County officials dug in with shovels Tuesday for a ceremonial groundbreaking to mark the start of interior work at the former county jail in the last of a series of such events.

Officials announced two years ago a $30 million capital upgrade plan for county facilities, paid for with a bond issue. Since then, the plaza at the administration building has been renovated, as has the Porter County Expo Center. Work on the exterior of the courthouse in downtown Valparaiso is nearly complete, and an auxiliary building at the North Porter County Government Complex as well as a renovation there, in a partnership with the Portage Township Trustee’s Office, is under way.

“This is the last piece of the capital improvement plan,” Board of Commissioners President Jeff Good, R-Center, said while standing outside the building, at 157 Franklin St.

The projects, said Council President Dan Whitten, D-At large, were the result of collaboration between the council and commissioners.

“We have done so without increasing your tax rate,” he said.

Child support services moved into the building at the site of a former restaurant in mid-December after its extended lease at 15 N. Franklin St. took county officials by surprise and was later deemed invalid by an outside law firm.

That office will move to another location on the ground floor as part of the renovation.

“To say it’s been a long and winding road (for child support) would be an understatement but I think it’s a great place for them,” Whitten said, adding child support provides an important service. “Without that, families suffer.”

A lot of planning went into the former jail, Good said, which, when complete in the spring, also will house E-911 Communications, probation and the prosecutor’s office. Probation and the prosecutor’s office are moving from the nearby courthouse, freeing up space in that building, and 911 is located at the sheriff ’s department.

“This will allow us to consolidate everything under one roof. On top of that, it’s 216 steps from the courthouse,” Good said.

The 27,265- square-foot building, purchased about a year ago for $3.6 million, will undergo $4.2 million in renovations, officials said. The building is four stories and has a basement that will be used for utilities, Good said, adding the structure, as a former jail, is sound, will last for years to come, and also offers storage for the county.

The building also will house a security station staffed by the Porter County Sheriff ’s Department, Good said.

“We just wanted to make sure people working in this building are secured,” he said, adding the security there and in other county buildings was well needed.

Work on the building actually started two weeks ago, Good said, and there will likely be some shuffling at the courthouse as space there frees up.

County officials had discussed adding courtrooms but that work isn’t in the budget, he added, noting commissioners would have to discuss with the council for funding for that additional work. There also is expected to be some shifting in the clerk’s office because of a pending state law that changes how elections are handled in the county.

“We still have some things to work through but right now everybody has a spot,” Good said.

Amy Lavalley is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.