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Committee already exploring options for county annex

Thursday, April 6, 2017
By JARED JERNAGAN, Assistant Editor

Formed just two weeks ago by members of the Putnam County Commissioners and Putnam County Council, a committee exploring the future of the Putnam County Courthouse Annex building is already taking action.

During the March 20 meeting, David Berry asked his fellow commissioners to approve the formation of a committee to look into the future of the old Jones School/Courthouse Annex property.

Since then, the committee — composed of Berry, Council members Darrel Thomas, Dave Fuhrman and Jill Bridgewater, Auditor Lorie Hallett and County Attorney Jim Ensley — has met and taken action.

On the unanimous advice of the committee, the commissioners on Monday authorized Ensley to look at the procedure for selling the property at 209 W. Liberty St.

“That doesn’t mean we’re going to sell it but we’re trying to set things in motion to possibly sell it,” Berry said.

Since the 2011 closure of the building, discussions have included selling the building as well as tearing it down to make way for a new annex on the same property. Both options remain on the table.

After Greencastle Community Schools sold the building to the county for $1, the former Jones School served as the Courthouse Annex from 2002 through 2011.

The building continues to serve as an overflow storage for various county offices. However, it is no longer heated and the roof leaks heavily in many locations.

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  • I hope that using the building for the proposed Y is an option. If we are looking for a neighborhood where the people that need the Y can walk to it, this seems like a good use.

    -- Posted by mandp523 on Fri, Apr 7, 2017, at 8:05 AM

  • The old Jones School is a pit, hasn't been maintained for years. County should just tear it down and keep the land for future use. Where else will they find a large tract of land so close to the square?

    -- Posted by Ben Dover on Fri, Apr 7, 2017, at 8:15 AM

  • Does this committee post their meeting dates and times or are they not subject to open meeting laws?

    -- Posted by Lookout on Fri, Apr 7, 2017, at 9:23 AM

  • Yes - this committee is subject to the Open Door Law and Access to Public Records Act:

    Indiana Code 5-14-1.5-2(b)(3)

    -- Posted by Rockypenguin on Mon, Apr 10, 2017, at 12:07 PM

  • The four previous comments raised really good ideas. There are several alternatives for the former school building and land that would benefit the city and the county. A new building with new courtrooms and offices would be nice but is not needed. Our county needs its infrastructure renewed. We need our roads and bridges capable of handling the weights and traffic safely for all county residents. School buses, fire trucks, agricultural vehicles, and personal vehicles should be able to safely transverse their route before we need a new and another government facility. We need to find ways to reduce government space not explore ways to spend more money that benefit just the few elected officials who work in government.

    This issue was raised in a candidates’ debate in 2012. The two candidates present at the debate both agreed a new building was not needed. There will never be enough money to make the necessary infrastructure repairs when we continue to spend money, and lots of it, on the wrong things! Maybe, the people of this county could form its own committee. One that would look at this issue more fairly and without bias.

    -- Posted by jblaydes on Tue, Apr 11, 2017, at 8:03 AM
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