MC Council approves additional $600,000 for Courthouse renovation
MARSHALL COUNTY — It started in 2016, but it looks as if the Courthouse Renovation project is one step closer to completion.
On Monday, County Council was presented with a request for an additional $600,000 to cover the estimated $1.5 million cost for the renovation.
“Last year at budget time, the commissioners asked for a million dollars in the Rainy Day for renovation at that time not knowing what we were going to need,” stated Commissioner Kevin Overmyer.
Initially, it was orig
inally an additional of $500,000 but County Auditor Julie Fox explained that it was changed to $600,000 just in case prices changed or there was something that occurred during the construction.
Kurt Garner began work with project as a County Commissioner in 2016, and now serves as a volunteer even after leaving office. In 2016, the commissioners worked with Umbaugh Financial to create an assessment for capital improvements. Around the same time, Buildings and Grounds included the Courthouse clocktower as a renovation project.
Garner informed the council that the commissioners had applied for a grant from the Indiana DNR for funding to perform a structural needs assessment on the courthouse. That grant was received in 2019. This paid for the preparation of draft construction documents which were completed in 2020. The final documents and bidding were followed through with Rowland Design. That occurred last fall.
“As they say, plan your work and work your plan. And so, you can see over the last several years we’ve kind of been walking down this path,” said Garner.
Garner then gave some construction facts about the courthouse itself:
• Construction began on the courthouse in 1870. It was completed and dedicated in 1872.
• According to experts, it was the first courthouse built in Indiana using the “county capital design.
• The cost of the construction was $110,000. In adjusted numbers, that equals about $5 million dollars in 2021.
• The first major rehabilitation campaign on the building occurred in 1913, about 40 years after it was dedicated. The cost was $30,000. In adjusted numbers, that is over $800,000 today.
• The commissioners are asking for an additional $600,000 to cover the estimated $1.5 million cost of the first significant rehabilitation in over 100 years. In 1872 dollars, that’s about $75,000.
“I think it’s a testament to Buildings and Grounds, the Council, and the Commissioners. Obviously there’s been a number of seats that have changed. Five years later we continue to move ahead with the preservation of this one building that really comes to symbolize who we are as a county, and quite honesty, the ideals that our forebears consecrated in stone and brick back in the 1870’s,” said Garner.
Overmyer reminded the council that there had been four bids that were submitted, but two of them were taken out due to the companies making mistakes on the cost figures.
The company that the commissioners went with was Midwest Maintenance from Piqua, Ohio. They had submitted a base bid of $1,266,435. There were six alternate bids that were accepted that added onto the project’s base bid. With those alternates added into the base bid, the project is short about $500,000.
“A lot of this work is on the brick, on the mortar, on the windows, and the commissioners felt as we are doing this work, we might as well get it completed and do it all at once instead of piecemealing this. Especially with it being 150year anniversary next year,” said Overmyer.
One of the alternates that would be added is a fire suppression system, something that is currently not in the clocktower. Overmyer said that one alternate was between $150,000 to $200,000.
“The big item that you could deduct is the suppression system,” Garner said. “And, I think we would all have egg on our face if we spent the $1.2 million on the building and then something happened and it caught fire, the tower. So, it’s not a logical thing to start to pull those things out.”
At a prior commissioner meeting, the bid with the six alternates was approved pending council approval. Overmyer said that if it was approved, then the work could commence May 1 with 180-days until completion.
There was some discussion about whether or not the LIT Fund could be used to fund the additional. Currently, the $1 million that was earmarked is being pulled from the Rainy Day Fund.
The council approved a motion to approve the $600,000 from the Rainy Day Fund with an unanimous vote.
It was stated that if it was found that the LIT Fund could be used, then another additional appropriation could be made later on.
Council Member Jon Vanvactor took a moment to thank Garner for his work on this project, both as a commissioner and as a volunteer.
“His dedication has been great for the citizens of Marshall County,” said Vanvactor.