LIMA — For Allen County commissioners, 2016 was a year in which the county was able to gain a better sense of direction on dealing with capital projects while also seeing some of those projects already begin.
After Tuesday’s agenda meeting, commissioner Jay Begg reflected on what the board was able to accomplish over the past 12 months.
“2016 was a year of progress and a lot of planning, and hopefully, 2017 will be more of the same but also more actual progress, primarily on capital issues,” Begg said.
When it comes to the largest projects undertaken by county commissioners, Begg first pointed to the start of restoration work on the Allen County Courthouse clock tower, a $589,000 project awarded to Delphos-based NR Lee Restoration. The restoration not only addresses structure deterioration but it also includes installing new clock works so the building will tell time once again.
“The second is the study we did from a standpoint of what we should do going forward with the county buildings and departments,” Begg said.
That study, conducted by Cleveland-based K2M Design, initially included three potential options for addressing where county departments should go, including a downtown-centric option, which has since been deemed too expensive, as well as a relocation option, moving many county departments, including county courts and the juvenile detention center to North Cole Street.
Looking ahead to 2017, Begg hopes to see more physical progress with addressing county capital needs, especially the new juvenile detention center, which will also be designed by K2M Design.
“What I hope to see is that the clock tower will completely done, the roof on the courthouse will be completely done and ground will be broken on the new juvenile detention center, with plans for other projects in place, and possibly funding plans for those projects.”
.neFileBlock {
margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
padding-bottom: 5px;
padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
font-size: 85%;
}
