The Marion County Board on a split vote has agreed to give a preliminary look at purchasing the Modern Woodman building at East Schwartz and Jefferson Street across the street from the Law Enforcement Center.
The decision came after a discussion about the condition and future use of the county’s annex building that formerly housed the Moose Lodge.
Supervisor of Assessments Mark Miller explained the first steps the board should take if they are interested in purchasing the Modern Woodman building.
“The first need is as a group to determine if this something that would benefit this board. Our opinion as officials is absolutely. We’ve outgrown the courthouse. What are you going to do if you remodel the courtroom which you definitely need to do, then where are you going to go for court? Are you going to drive across town? I have looked around this area and there is nothing out there folks, nothing.”
Miller doubts the seller would give the county access to study the condition of the building until they put escrow money down.
One of the no votes for even looking at the building came from Steve Whritenour. He thought the Moose Building was purchased to handle the county’s expansion needs.
“We have to stop buying stuff. We are done. We have to maintain what we have in place first before we even consider purchasing something else. I want to see in black and white who maintains the Moose building.”
Board Chair Debbie Smith said the sheriff’s department handled the maintenance, but Sheriff Kevin Cripps says by law he is only responsible for the upkeep of the jail and courthouse with the county board able to assign additional buildings. However, he warned his staff was being set up for failure if additional buildings had to be maintained with his custodial staff of one full-time and one part-time employee.
After the vote, Building Committee Chair Dr. Creighton Engel explained what work the committee would now do in studying the purchase of the Modern Woodman building.
“What will happen next is the building committee will meet separately, we will formulate a plan on how to proceed. What we would like to do. To get to the point where we can present some information to the board at that point in time.”
Finances will be part of the issue, but Miller told the board banks were willing to finance the purchase. Engle also defended money spent on the former Moose building.
“The roof and masonry were totally redone. I think it’s structurally sound. I think there are minor changes we might make in the interior to make it a little more attractive for the public when they come in. Basically, the building was designed for storage as its primary purpose and that is what it is being used for. But we can make it a little more attractive for when people come in.”
Right now the Annex building has a large open area that is available for future use. Board members were invited to look at the building for themselves before Tuesday night’s meeting.
WJBD-WSIQ earlier reported that after spending $45,000 to purchase the building another $375,986 has been spent on improving the building to its current state. The figure was tabulated by Marion County Treasurer Gary Purcell and Clerk Steve Fox.
In other action, the board agreed to remain in the newly named Downstate Illinois Tourism Bureau which was formerly Illinois South.
The board moved the voting location for Centralia Precinct 13 from the Lively Stone Church to the City Hope Church in the former Centralia High School building.
Chris Krupp and Adam Smith were appointed to represent Marion County on the Centralia area enterprise zone.
A large open area of the Marion County Annex Building has become a place to dump no longer wanted items. Photo by Bruce Kropp.
Part of the ceiling has been removed from the records storage area. Photo by Bruce Kropp.
Some of the old records with dried mold. County officials believe the moisture issue that was causing the mold has now been corrected. Photo by Bruce Kropp.
Some exposed wiring in the County Annex building. Photo by Bruce Kropp.
A partially dismantled bathroom becomes the home of no longer-wanted chairs. Photo by Bruce Kropp.
