BENTONVILLE -- Benton County's justices of the peace got their first look Monday at a scaled-back plan for a new courts building in downtown Bentonville.
The county's Public Safety Committee was briefed on the prospects for building additional space for the circuit courts and related offices that would see a new building on Second Street, across from the existing county courthouse, and utilize renovated space in the historic county courthouse and the county's annex building.
County courts building
Benton County has been considering a replacement for the historic county courthouse, which was built in 1928, for the past few years. County Judge Bob Clinard has said he wants the county to decide which building option to pursue sometime this year and then move into the process of deciding how to finance the project. The county’s initial feasibility study on a new courts building estimated the cost at $49 million for the SW 14th Street location and around $53 million for two possible designed in downtown Bentonville, with part of the cost of a downtown project being renovations and improvements to existing county courts buildings.
Source: Staff report
Gary Jackson with Hight-Jackson Associates, architects on the project, estimated the work on the planned building and renovation of the historic courthouse could stretch from two years to 31/2 years. Jackson said another nine months to a year will be needed to complete design work if the downtown site is selected. Jackson said the historic courthouse, which he cited as an outstanding example of the architecture of the period, is in need of substantial repair work and the option presented Monday is the best proposal.
"Benton County needs a new courthouse," Jackson said. 'Benton County needs a new courthouse that's going to last 80 years or 100 years as this one has done."
Monday's meeting showcased the downtown Bentonville option being considered for a new courts building to house the county's circuit court judges, their courtrooms, offices for the Prosecuting Attorney and Public Defender, the Circuit Clerk and other related staff and services. A meeting to consider the possibility of placing a new courts building on county-owned property on SW 14th Street, near the County Jail and Road Department, was set for March 16 at 6 p.m.
Benton County now has six circuit judges and courtrooms. Three judges and their courtrooms are in the historic county courthouse, which was designed to house a single judge and courtroom. Two other judges are in space in nearby buildings in downtown Bentonville. Judge Tom Smith, who handles most of the county's juvenile cases, has a courtroom and office space in the Juvenile Justice Center that is located on county-owned land near the County Jail and Road Department on Melissa Drive.
The circuit judges have stated their concerns over inadequate space and security issues in the aging courthouse and other problems tied to having the judges and courtrooms in separate facilities and their desire for the county to have a single courts building that would provide adequate room for the court system now and allow for future growth.
The plan presented to the justices of the peace Monday calls for a four-story building on Second Street that would have space for five courtrooms and related offices and shell space for two courtrooms to be built in the future.a sky walk would connect the new building with the historic county courthouse. The new building plan provides the county with a projected 69,624 square-feet of additional space for the courts system and carries an estimated cost of $32.2 million.
In the county's initial feasibility study, the Second Street option called for a larger building, with a greater cost. That study examined a building with 106,875 square-feet of space and an estimated cost of $53 million, which included $8.9 million in renovations to the existing courthouse and $3.4 million in additions to the county's Juvenile Justice Center on Melissa Drive.
The revised project also includes substantial cost-saving contributions from the Walton Family Foundation. The foundation has already agreed to provide about $2.9 million to do some of the renovation needed on the historic courthouse and Jay Allen, representing the foundation, told the justices of the peace another $2 million grant will be made available for work on the annex if the county chooses the downtown plan. Another contribution would come through the foundation paying the $944,000 cost of land acquisition needed for the project.
"The $2 million grant is contingent upon the courts facility staying downtown," Allen said.
The presentation also addressed concerns about downtown parking. Brenda Anderson, with Downtown Bentonville Inc., said a recent survey shows the project would increase parking within a one-block radius of the courthouse by 101 spaces. the parking is spread over a number of locations and Anderson said Downtown Bentonville Inc. has had talks with the city about improving signage to direct people to some of the parking areas. Anderson said the parking study purposely left out parking around the downtown square since businesses there rely heavily on those space. The study also shows 113 spaces in the parking deck of the 21C Hotel being available on days when the county is calling a jury pool to court.
NW News on 03/03/2015