COURTLAND
For this month, the Southampton County Board of Supervisors will review the multiple options for courthouse space needs and designs, which were shown by representatives of Moseley Architects during the Tuesday night meeting.

Architect Tony Bell went through the list beginning with prior options.

• The first being to establish a new building on Camp Parkway. The majority of voters said no to that idea in the referendum last November.

• The second option was to demolish the wing built in the 1960s, and then expand, renovate the existing building. That was considered as an alternative to the first plan. A subset, 2A, was also nixed because the courthouse stakeholders said it had too many deficiencies and therefore not viable.

• The third option was to find an alternative to 2A, but it was shot down for similar reasons.

• Option 4 is to build a new two-story addition in the parking lot next to the ‘60s wing and renovate of the existing facility. That cost was estimated at $27.58M, the 4B at $27.43M.

• The fifth idea is to build a new structure for all court functions adjacent to the county office across the street. That would require getting the property contiguous to it. One price tag for variations is $22.56M.

• No. 6 is to build a new structure adjacent to the county office to contain some court functions other than the circuit court. Lower courts such as Juvenile and Domestic Relations could be relocated. County Attorney Richard Railey would be called on to ensure it’s a valid option. But there are operational deficiencies owing to a split in functions. This is also at $31M, the most expensive of the choices.

• The seventh option would mean acquiring the Seven Gables property next to the existing courthouse parking lot. The ‘60s wing would be demolished for parking. The existing courthouse would be repurposed, and a new building constructed within the floodway would be needed. The basic cost there was mentioned as $22.98M.

Ronnie West, board vice chairman, said, “I’m disturbed by the cost rises.”

Bell later pointed out that costs will indeed rise and contractors will become busier.

Supervisor Barry Porter indicated he favors 5B, but “My preference is to not be in floodplain. I just don’t have an appetite to spend $31M.”

He also noted that anything after option 5 is $5M more. Further, he opposes any intrusion on Courtland Baptist Church property plans. For the meeting on June 25, the supervisors expect to “whittle down” the number of choices, and then scheduled public comment for July. Deciding which concept could occur as early as August.