Lauderdale County courthouse project making progress
The Lauderdale County Board of Supervisors say progress is being made on the downtown courthouse project. During today’s Council of Government meeting, supervisors told state and city elected officials that Yates Construction and LPK Architects have presented a few ideas.
“In our heads, we sort of knew what we wanted, but to actually see it on paper, like hey you can do this here, and to see the square footage and all the numbers they brought up. Some of the scenarios even included the federal building,” said District 3 Board Supervisor Josh Todd.
He explained that supervisors hope that by January, residents can start to see work being done downtown in terms of renovating the courthouse.
“We need to stay downtown and stay in that building. We need to preserve it from top to bottom.
Another thing the board would like to do is get that jail off the top of it. Not only does it not look good, but it leaks.”
But supervisors feel differently about the historic archives and history building. They hope to tear it down.
“We want to preserve that, but there’s also a time when it’s no longer feasible to do so. The building will cost $3 million to renovate what’s there, or you can tear it down and build one twice as nice for $1 million,” said Todd.
Nevertheless, he added that supervisors are trying to keep the cost of the project down as much as possible.
“We want to show the public that we’re just not out here spending money freely. We’re really concerned. We’re trying to pinch every penny and trying to get the most out of every dollar.”
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