BENTONVILLE — With a draft report in hand showing costs of $49.6 million to $53.6 million, Benton County officials are moving forward with work aimed at making room for the county’s circuit courts.
County Judge Bob Clinard said the report is unfinished and indicated he will have some questions, particularly about the cost.
“We’re all going to read it, they’ve asked us for comments,” Clinard said of the study. “I’m sure the downtown group is going to do the same. I’ll get my comments back to them in the next week or so for what we hope will be the final draft. Once we get that, we’ll all get together and discuss it and at some point it will go to the Quorum Court.”
The draft report details three options for a new courts building:
- Option A would be built on county property in downtown Bentonville on the site of the old county jail. The cost for that option is estimated at $49,694,155.
- Option B would be built on property across North Second Street from the existing courthouse and tower. That option has an estimated cost of $53,672,213.
Options A and B include renovation work to the old courthouse and tower costing $8,977,689, and an expansion of the county Juvenile Justice Center on Melissa Drive at a cost of $3,345,600.
- Option C would be built on county-owned property on Southwest 14th Street, near the County Jail, the Road Department and the county’s Public Service Building. The estimated cost is $49,608,747.
Each option is reviewed for how well it meets the needs of the county through at least 2030 and a list of potential issues, including safety for courthouse employees and the public; traffic congestion during and after construction; adequacy of parking; room for future expansion; and possible disruption of county offices during construction.
Clinard said he sees three parts of the decision-making process as the county moves forward with the project.
“It’s two or three big decisions,” Clinard said. “One is location. One big decision is the cost and how we’re going to pay for it. The third will be trying to be sure that we properly plan for the future because this facility will serve the county for many, many years just as the old courthouse has.”
Clinard said his experience in construction leads him to think the cost estimates are too high.
“That is far more than we need to spend, and far more than I think it will cost,” he said. “We don’t need to go to the Quorum Court with an unrealistic cost estimate.”
Bentonville Mayor Bob McCaslin said he hadn’t read the draft report, but agreed the initial cost estimates seem high.
Fast Fact
Assessment, Master Plan
Benton County officials contracted Hight-Jackson Associates, a Northwest Arkansas-based architectural firm, in conjunction with the National Center for State Courts, to prepare a long-term assessment and master plan for the new Benton County Circuit Courthouse. The plan addresses the current and long-term facility requirements and space needs of the courts. The feasibility study is a needs assessment plan designed to help the courts prepare for future facility needs, and address relevant issues, particularly, population growth, increasing caseloads and future facility efforts.
Source: Benton County Court Feasibility Study
“Those are the poster child for estimates,” McCaslin said of the projected costs.
City officials and representatives from other entities, including the Bentonville-Bella Vista Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Bentonville Inc., have supported keeping the courts in the downtown area. McCaslin said he thinks keeping the courts downtown is important to the economic vibrancy of the city. He said he expects the downtown Bentonville interests to participate in an informal fashion, while acknowledging the decision will be made by the county government.
“The county doesn’t report to the city,” he said.
Clinard said the project will probably be referred to the Quorum Court’s Public Safety Committee once a final draft is complete. Patrick Carr, justice of the peace for District 12 and committee chairman, had a quick reaction to the estimated cost of the project.
“Wow. That’s a lot of money,” Carr said.”I’m not sure what number I was anticipating, but that isn’t cheap.”
Carr said he agrees with Clinard that the county has to find ways to reduce the cost.
“That’s a lot of money, hopefully it will come in lower,” Carr said. “He’s an expert in that field with his background in construction, and I look forward to seeing a report and hearing what he has to say. That’s kind of scary when you look at $50 million.”
Kurt Moore, justice of the peace for District 13, said he thinks the county needs to focus on the cost and the financing issues first.
“That’s almost twice as much as I thought it was going to be,” Moore said. “I knew it was gong to be expensive, but not that much.”
Moore said officials must weigh the mood of the public as they proceed with the project.
“It depends on what the people of the county are willing to put up with,” Moore said of paying for the project through a tax levy or bond issue. “Obviously, it’s not going to come out of the reserve. A sales tax or bond issue would have to run for many years to pay off that much money.”
Moore said officials need to make sure there are no frills included in the project before taking it to the public.
“We can’t be building a monumental-type structure,” he said. “But it has to be a structure that would last as long as the original courthouse, which is pushing 100 years right now.”
Tom Allen, justice of the peace for District 4 and chairman of the County’s Finance Committee, echoed concerns about the cost.
“That’s more than I’d predicted,” Allen said. “I’d predicted in the range of $35 million to $40 million.”
Allen said he will want to look at ways of reducing the cost, possibly reducing the scope of the project.
“Any of the three options, to me, is significant in cost such that it makes me wonder how we can pull this off,” he said.
Allen said he wants to start discussing the project in Finance Committee as soon as possible, with a focus on the cost.
“You’ve got to know whether or not you can acquire the money for any of the three options before we choose which option we want,” he said.