Courthouse addition nearing completion
$3.56 million facility should be ready by late April
By Kathryn F. Pickard

Carpenters work on the trim for one of the two courtrooms in the new courthouse annex. The judge's bench and witness stand are in the background and the jury box will be to the front left. Photo by Jim Cox

"This was built for the people of Clarke County; not for the lawyers, not for the judges, but the people of this county," Clarke County Commission Chairman Paul Bradford stated when talking about the $3.56 million addition to the Clarke County Courthouse now nearing completion.

A majority of the two-story annex is at least 85 percent complete on the inside according to construction superintendent Danny Broadhead of J. C. Duke Contractors, the builders. "We'll have final inspection April 9 and we'll turn the building over April 20. We're going to be working a lot of nights and weekends," he laughed.

The addition includes two new courtrooms, judges' chambers, offices for their secretaries and court reporters, jurors' rooms, a break room, offices for county commissioners and a new probate/ county commission courtroom.

Renovations to the existing courthouse include new quarters for the license commissioner's office and probate office.

The metal roof on the new courthouse annex was completed last week.

License Commissioner Linda Copeland and staff have already moved into their new quarters.

A hallway on each floor connects the old and new buildings.

"The biggest thing we lack on the interior is paint and the flooring," said construction manager Tank Wilson.

Broadhead was the fifth superintendent to take on the courthouse since construction began a little over a year ago. When he came on board six months ago the slab had been poured, roof trusses were in place and the outside wood walls were up.

"It was just a shell when I got here and we were behind. Since then we've done over a year's work in five months," Broadhead said.

The biggest delay since the interior work began was caused by a leak. Because the roof had not been put on as scheduled the protective material on top of the building disintegrated, causing a major leak. Sheetrock, ceiling grids, lighting and insulation was ruined and had to be replaced.

"If we hadn't had to redo so much we could have been at the point we are now several weeks ago," Wilson said. "Danny's done a good job getting this back on track," he added.

One of the features in the new courthouse that was axed to save money was the $60,000 elevator that would have served judges, court personnel and prisoners. The blocked-up elevator shaft is seen looking from the stairs that will have to be used.

Wilson gives Broadhead credit for giving the building construction a jump start and Commission Chairman Bradford gives Wilson credit for saving the county money on the project.

"Without Tank Wilson this project wouldn't have been possible. He has saved this county money by being here to oversee this project. He caught a lot of things we would have been messed up on," Bradford said.

Most of the sidewalks and asphalt have been completed in front of the building and there is a little work to be finished behind it.

"We've got to do some caulking and wash and seal the bricks. They'll be moving furniture in April 20," Broadhead grinned.

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