County gets ready to decide on new court facility

By JOHN THOMPSON
jthompson@thecitizennews.com

The answer to Coweta County's $30 million question may come next Tuesday.

The Coweta County Commission is expected to decide on what type of judicial complex will serve the residents for the next few years.

Officials from the consulting firm of Gardner, Spencer, Smith, Sarden and Partners told the County Commission last month that a brand new facility would cost the county nearly $30 million.

If the county chooses to build the facility, its space requirements would be met until 2010.

Currently, the county uses 55,000 square feet in four buildings for court business, along with support staff. But according to the consultant's report, the county will need 143,000 square feet in 2005 and 180,000 square feet in 2010, based on projections from department heads.

But the biggest issue confronting the county is the lack of handicapped accessibility.

"We're not studying this because we want to build a monument to this or any other commission. We're doing it because we have to," said Commissioner Lawrence Nelms during last month's hearing.

The consulting firm offered the county four options.

First, the county could renovate the existing space at a cost of $4 million. If the county pursues this option, it will still have the same limited amount of space and not improve handicapped access, according to the consultant.

Second, the county could choose to redistribute some of the courts and support staff into other county facilities at a cost of $8.5 million. The county would still have the same amount of space and would not be able to fully address the handicapped access question.

Third, the county could build an annex next to the County Administration Building at a cost of $19.5 million. This would allow the county to build up enough extra space to meet its needs through 2005 and address some of the handicapped access issues.

The final option would be building a brand new facility, complete with nearly 300 parking spaces. The new facility would be secure and also be able to handle the growing technology needs of the court system, the consultants said.

Commission Chairman Vernon "Mutt" Hunter told the consultants that if the county chooses to build a new facility, constituents have clamored for it to be kept in downtown Newnan.

The commission is expected to render a decision and possibly suggest a funding mechanism at Tuesday's 2 p.m. meeting.

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