An agency hired to examine the future of the historic courthouse in Brown County has offered two suggestions to the Brown County Commissioners and Brown County Council.
Those are to move court offices to a new building that would be built next to the Brown County Law Enforcement Center and move some county employees into the current courthouse after it is renovated.
DLZ principal architect Eric Ratts and project manager Scott Carnegie presented a preliminary study to the commissioners and council May 2.
The proposed new 26,910-square-foot justice center is estimated to cost between $6,750,000 and $7,250,000, along with 25 to 30 percent additional for “soft costs” like professional and financing fees.
Adapting the courthouse to a new use would be a separate project. DLZ suggested doing it in multiple phases, but did not have an estimate on costs. The final presentation is scheduled for June 4 and DLZ will have cost estimates then.
“I know you have been through many studies about your project, but your project is very special. You need to take time, do the right thing,” Ratts said.
Ratts said before arriving at the evening meeting he was stopped at the stoplight at Van Buren and Main streets and looked up to see three different groups of people pose for photos in front of the courthouse.
“It’s one of those moments you have to take and realize the importance of some of the decisions you’re going to be making here about your facility,” Ratts said.
DLZ was hired in November to conduct a comprehensive study of space, staffing and operations associated with the court, projected out to what the needs will be in 2040. This is the first step toward making possible changes to the way Brown Circuit Court has been operating, in the same building in downtown Nashville since 1874.
In addition to the courtroom and offices currently in the courthouse, DLZ looked at the needs and challenges that related offices are facing, such as the prosecutor’s office, Community Corrections and the county clerk. For instance, public defenders and the Guardian ad Litem program have no office spaces in county buildings; and other departments say that they need more people but have no place to put them.
Greater security is the most pressing need in the current courthouse, which was built in 1874 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Ratts said that a feasibility study is “the most important stage” and the foundation of any project.
“The feasibility study is the recipe. That’s what you’re using to make all of your decisions in the future and make sure you understand, ‘Why are we doing this?’” he said.
Maintaining integrity
The Brown County justice system is currently housed in multiple buildings. Those offices have outgrown their areas and no further interior expansion can be done, the study concludes.
Expanding the courthouse “does not address all the issues” and it’s not the best course of action, the study said. Carnegie said it’s “very difficult to add onto a historic building and keep the historic character.”
Ratts said his personal recommendation would be to keep the courthouse as a county-maintained facility. Preserving the history of the building would be the “primary goal and objective,” the study said.
Under DLZ’s plan, the county clerk’s office on the first floor of the courthouse would be turned into multiple conference and meeting rooms. The probation office across the hall would be split into a county office and learning center. Public restrooms would be on the first floor.
Upstairs, the courtroom would be made into a chamber for the commissioners and council, and a public meeting room. The current law library would become a history library.
The current court offices would be made into three separate offices for the commissioners, with space for an administrative assistant.
The smaller courtroom upstairs would be made into public restrooms.
A new, two-story justice center would be built next to the jail, but not on the land where Kids on Wheels are planning to build their skate park, Biddle said. The county owns the land up to that property line, she said.
The circuit court office, county clerk, probation department, Community Corrections and public restrooms would be housed on the first floor of the new building. The prosecutor, public defenders, GAL and public restrooms would be on the second floor.
After the final feasibility study report is presented, the next steps would be to determine ways to fund the project, generate awareness in the public and build a consensus. “It’s something you do need to address. You have some very pressing needs that need to be addressed long-term,” Ratts said.
A previous plan was defeated by a citizen remonstrance in 2013. It would have built a large addition onto the back of the current courthouse.
That project would have cost property taxpayers up to $8.25 million over the life of the bond. It was conceived by an architect with the input of court and county employees. But not even all of the commissioners at that time were clear on what the plan was trying to accomplish, and it did not gain broad public support.
Since that plan failed, two different local courthouse committees have been convened, and the League of Women Voters commissioned a study about space needs and courthouse preservation.
Commissioner Jerry Pittman said he thought the DLZ study was a “very professional way to approach this project.”
“This project was looked at a few years ago. I am not sure it was well presented or thought through. The public rejected that. We tried to find the most professional way to find how our needs can be met,” he said.
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The process of planning for a new justice center began with a public meeting in January and interviews with user groups.
“We looked at your courthouse site more than once. We walked through multiple times to get the feeling of what it would be like to work in that space as well as visit that facility,” principal architect Eric Ratts of DLZ said.
The people who work in the courthouse and with the court expressed concerns about security, parking, additional storage, work space and confidential meeting areas in their current buildings.
Judge Judith Stewart told DLZ that access to court offices is a concern because as it is now, the public has to walk through the courtroom and that sometimes means a hearing must be stopped. There is also a need for a larger area for the jury with a break room and separate restrooms.
A public restroom also is needed on the second level where the courtroom is, the study said.
Stewart also would like to see a separate way for inmates in custody to come into the courthouse for a hearing or trial, rather than taking them through the same halls the public and jurors use.
The clerk’s office wants additional storage and meeting space for confidential discussions, and more counter/reception space. A separate payment window was another request.
The election board also needs space to store equipment and count votes; currently, voting machines are housed in the basement of the Law Enforcement Center. Sheriff Scott Southerland told DLZ that he would like those moved. Freeing up the basement also could create an indoor shooting range, he said. There is also a need at the jail for attorney and inmate conference rooms, the study says.
The sheriff also told DLZ that courthouse security is a primary concern for his department.
If the new justice center is built next door to the jail, it could be connected to the jail for ease of inmate transport: underground, overhead or on the same level, Ratts said.
The prosecutor’s office also is seeking changes. Prosecutor Ted Adams told DLZ that the modular building where his office is, next door to the courthouse, is “obsolete,” and there’s no space to put the two additional staff people they’d like to hire.
Security is also a concern for that department. They’d like to have offices that are more secure and have better sound containment, as well as a quiet lobby area, and deposition and conference rooms.
Public defenders in Brown County currently do not have an office, and providing that space was mentioned in interviews with DLZ.
A supervised visitation area with a family room environment was the top need from the Guardian ad Litem program. The program lost grant funding for their previous “Children’s Place” location in Bean Blossom. GAL also said storage is needed for files dating back to 1990, along with an area to teach life skills.
The probation department also asked for more space so that they can hire additional staff and store files, and a large waiting area to accommodate their 15 to 30 visitors per day. Individual offices, a dedicated drug screening room, and a classroom for 20 that could be shared also were on the department’s list of needs.
Commissioner Diana Biddle also said the probation department lost grant funding for a new probation officer because the department didn’t have enough office space for one.
The study says that probation and Community Corrections need to be housed together near the court and clerk. Currently, Community Corrections works at Deer Run Park on the edge of town.
Community Corrections is responsible for monitoring people who are on home detention, day reporting or work release.
Biddle said there are problems with the modular home that serves as the Brown County Parks and Recreation office at Deer Run Park. One thought was to move parks and rec to the Community Corrections office once they moved, “or we have to come up with another building or office for them,” she said.
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