Work beginning on Floyd County courthouse updates

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

Changes are beginning to be seen in the Floyd County courthouse as the new law enforcement center construction winds down and the courthouse update part of the project gears up.

Workers removed doors and door frames off closets in the Assembly Room on the ground floor Monday in preparation for cutting through the wall of the courthouse to create a passage from the courthouse into the new lobby in the new law enforcement center (LEC).

Chief Deputy Pat Shirley said it’s important, once the LEC is open and detainees are moved into the new jail, that there is a way to move detainees from the jail into the courtrooms on the third and fourth floors of the courthouse without having to go outside.

Once the LEC and atrium are complete and some of the needed new corridors in the courthouse are finished, there will be a secure path and a dedicated elevator for detainee transfer between the LEC and the courtrooms, with the goal of preventing any encounters between detainees and courthouse staff or members of the public.

For now, until the new elevators are finished in the atrium and new courthouse corridors are created, detainees will need to be transferred from the LEC through the new lobby, through the passage that will be created through the assembly room, then through the public corridor and up the public elevator.

For the past 40-plus years, detainees have been transferred through public spaces and on the single courthouse public elevator when moving from the jail on the top floor to the district courtroom on the third floor, or while being transferred into and out of the courthouse. The new LEC and courthouse updates were designed to end that.

The supervisors and county auditor spent some time talking about meeting schedules and the groups that need to use the Assembly Room, but eventually decided to go ahead with cutting through the courthouse wall from the Assembly Room into the new lobby and creating a new corridor out of one side of the Assembly Room, recognizing that some inconvenience will be necessary.

“Get started. Let’s not hold them up,” said Supervisor Doug Kamm.

Supervisor Linda Tjaden agreed.

“From my perspective, it’s ‘Yes! We’re working on the courthouse! Finally we’re getting going.’ We’re all realizing we’re going to have to make due for a while,” Tjaden said.

Also at the special meeting Monday morning, the supervisors:

• Heard that there was a good turnout on a walkthrough of the courthouse last Friday by businesses interested in bidding on an asbestos removal project.

“I think we’re going to get some competitive bids,” said County Auditor Gloria Carr .

• Approved a change order for $17,513 on an almost $328,000 project in Drainage District No. 1, to replace tile and remove tree roots that were discovered while working on the project.

• Approved a request to use the courthouse parking lot on the northside of Court Street as a set-up and storage area to get ready for a fireworks display Nov. 27 to conclude the holiday lighting event kickoff downtown that day.

The Main Street bridge will be closed for about half an hour that evening to launch the fireworks, under action that the Charles City Council took at its regular meeting Monday night.