The holidays may come early for Lauderdale County officials as the new government complex on 22nd Avenue is on track to be complete this fall.
In a work session Thursday, LPK Architects’ Jim Smith said work is moving forward with the building that will house the county’s justice and circuit courts and their clerks, board of supervisors, tax assessor and tax collector and more.
On the exterior of the building, Smith said much of the work is completed, with the future parking lot ready for a base layer of asphalt. The access road from Donald Avenue is also complete, and the rear area of the building is almost ready for sod.
“The site work is really coming on,” he said. “We’re basically down now to the landscaping on the outside.”
Workers hit a slight snag on a project building the boulevard that will connect the government complex with 22nd Avenue, Smith said, and needed to increase the size of the drainage system to meet city requirements. Those changes have been made, and contractors expect the city to approve the permit for the project on July 5.
On the inside of the building, Smith said, much of the work on the first floor is done, and several of the courtrooms on the second floor are nearing completion.
In the clerk areas, bulletproof glass has been installed along the service counters, which have also been re-enforced with kevlar.
“That is a secure area. When you walk down that hall, everything down that corridor and down that way is secure,” he said. “You have to have a card reader even to get into those areas.’
Supervisor Jonathan Wells said he had fielded questions from several court officials about the new security system and how that would impact meetings between attorneys and judges or other court staff.
Board Attorney Lee Thaggard said the county will likely need to adopt a process similar to that used in federal courts. When attorneys need to meet with a federal judge, he said, they are escorted from the public area to the judge’s chambers by court staff.
“We’ve just got to get accustomed to it,” he said. “That’s a good thing.”
Smith said the government complex project is still under budget, with about $1 million still unallocated. Construction on the building is still making good progress, he said, and once the permit for the boulevard is finalized, that project will move quickly as well.
At the current rate things are going, Smith said, the county can look to begin moving in furniture around Sept. 1.