Visual report offers differing view of courthouse

Although the Faulkner County Quorum Court has heard from structural engineers and architects about the deficiencies of the Faulkner County Courthouse, a new visual report issued by architect Tommy Jameson of Jameson Architects P.A. and structural engineer Kenneth Jones of Kenneth Jones and Associates Inc. differs. 

Through their visual study, Jameson and Jones determined that the courthouse “was a well designed and very well constructed building. It has served the citizens of the county well thus far and, with normal and continued maintenance, is structurally capable of serving for decades to come.”

The study does admit that “rehabilitation” is needed on the building and that mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems need updating. Alterations to address Americans with Disabilities Act requirements and the growing county government would also need to be addressed, according to the report. 

Justice of the Peace Dan Thessing said the building has been viewed and tested by structural engineers in the past. He said repairs to the courthouse carry a $5.7 million price tag.

“Our report was very thorough and diagnostic,” Thessing said, noting that he had not looked at the new report. 

Even if the repairs were made in the previous report completed by Nabholz, Thessing said only two floors of the courthouse would be usable. 

He said the report gave JPs facts about the hard decisions of what to do to keep employees safe.

He recommends moving the courts out of the courthouse, building a new courts building at the Faulkner County Detention Center and moving county clerk employees into the building being used by Judge Mike Maggio’s courtroom. Then he hoped the county would build an administration building to house county offices. 

Justice Jerry Park disagrees. 

“It is a historical building, a well-built, strong building,” Park said. 

Park said the $5.7 million figure to repair the courthouse reflected a price if “everything was gutted and replaced” rather than updated and modernized. Park suggested that instead of replacing the courthouse windows, adding storm windows on the outside would increase the efficiency by 30 percent.

In addition to just keeping the building, Park said he was opposed to tearing down the courthouse because of the length of time it would take to replace the building and the amount of debris that would be placed in the local landfill.

He said repairs had already been made to the building’s roof.

“Fix the roof and start down,” he said. 

Nancy Allen, who is a part of the Coalition for the Historical Courthouse Cultural Center that worked with the National Trust for Historic Preservation to secure the grant for the Jameson and Jones report, said she is encouraged by the report. 

She said keeping the building viable is the green, sustainable thing to do.

The CHCCC will meet at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Faulkner County Museum to discuss the next step regarding the courthouse. Allen said she thinks the organization will be doing fundraising to get another study completed and if needed, funds to purchase the building.

“We have a long road ahead of us,” Allen said.

She said if the county determines it does not want to keep the courthouse as county offices, the organization would work to use the building for various arts organizations and as workshop space. 

“The possibilities are endless. It just takes imagination, energy and money,” Allen said. “I have the first two.”