LEWISBURG, W.V. (LOOTPRESS) – President of the Greenbrier County Commission Lowell Rose says the Greenbrier County Courthouse renovations have reached phase one, starting with the demolition of the antiquated jail located behind the courthouse.
Official demolition commenced on Tuesday, April 6; however, the county has been removing asbestos from the jail for several weeks to prepare it for demolition.
Commissioner Rose explained that the idea of renovating and adding onto the county’s courthouse has been bounced around for nearly two decades. The plan was finally put into motion two years ago.
“It is good to have it underway now, and the plan is pretty well done,” Rose said. “We are tweaking some things and working on a few things, but it’s good to have the process underway and see these buildings coming down.”
Rose gave a timeline of the project, stating that the demolition and construction of the courthouse addition will take approximately one year to complete followed by another year of renovating the current courthouse building. Upon completion, the older portion of the building will be reserved for judicial offices, and the newer portion will house the public offices such as the County Clerk’s Office, the Sheriff’s Office, etc.
“We want people to know that it will be a little bit of an inconvenience over the next year, or couple of years until we get this addition, but the addition will be so convenient for them once it’s done,” Rose said.
Final drawings of the addition are being completed as the demolition continues. Rose hopes to have the renderings in hand and begin bidding for construction within the coming weeks.
