A $71,036 transfer was approved last week to complete renovations on the fourth floor of the Garland County Court House, allowing the county finance and human resources departments to move from the courthouse basement to the building's top floor.
The Garland County Quorum Court Finance Committee-endorsed transfer shifted money from the capital improvement fund's maintenance-and-repair line item to the construction in progress category, paying for the $66,036 change order previous County Judge Rick Davis approved last month. Intrafund transfers don't have to be approved by the full quorum court.
Current County Judge Darryl Mahoney said the contract with Moser Construction LLC was amended to add office space for the finance and human resources departments. They are currently in the courthouse basement, where they have been located since the quorum court approved the creation of the two departments in 2016.
A $207,000 general fund appropriation was approved last year for the renovation project, but last month's change order increased the contract to $300,510.
The county attorney's office is already on the fourth floor, moving there after becoming a full-time position last year.
The top floor was vacant for several years following the departure of staff from the prosecuting attorney's office in 2014. The relocation came after the Hot Springs Fire Department determined the nearest exits to the fourth floor were beyond the distance mandated by the fire code.
A free-standing metal walkway and stair tower leading from the top floors to the parking lot and a sprinkler system have since been added, with the latter addressing noncompliance issues with the building's open stairwell.
Mahoney said the environmental inspections division will relocate from its Woodbine Street office to the courthouse basement. It may eventually move to the old Hot Springs National Guard Armory on Woodbine, Mahoney said.
The county cooperative extension office that shares building space on Woodbine with the inspections division may also relocate to the armory, he said. The National Register of Historic Places site has been vacant since the Hot Springs Senior Center left last year. The county plans on putting a new roof on the building and mitigating mold issues that forced the senior center to leave, appropriating $200,000 from the general fund last year to start the improvements.
Last year, the county balked at accepting an Arkansas Heritage Historical Preservation grant to help pay for the improvements, as acceptance was conditioned on granting a conservation easement committing the county to maintain the historic character of the building.
Future uses for the building would have been limited and any changes to the facade would have required preapproval from the granting agency.
Local on 01/21/2019