AUBURN — The Androscoggin County Commission will host a meeting Wednesday evening with members of the county Budget Committee to discuss the viability of the Androscoggin County Courthouse continuing to serve as the home to county offices.
The roundtable discussion will begin at 5:15 p.m. Wednesday in the second-floor conference room in the courthouse at 2 Turner St.
Sally Christner, chairwoman of the county commission, said they will discuss the future of the 166-year-old building, and whether it makes sense to pay millions to renovate the historic structure or look to purchase a new home, which will also cost millions of dollars.
“So many of the budget committee work on town boards, and we wanted to tap into an additional stream of ideas and experience,” Christner said. “Such big, long-reaching decisions, I want to have as much input and advice as possible.”
The 1857 Androscoggin County Courthouse complex at Court and Turner streets in Auburn includes the main entrance to the courthouse, far left, the entrance to the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office, center left, and the more recent multistory jail addition, far right. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal file
While some commissioners have argued that the historical aspect of the current facility is important to maintain, Commissioner Garrett Mason of Lisbon isn’t so sure. He said in May that just because a building is historical, it doesn’t mean the county has to occupy it forever.
Growing frustration with the ballooning cost to revamp the heating, ventilating and air conditioning system at the Androscoggin County Courthouse and Jail, which the county and engineers have spent more than two years attempting to finalize an estimate, forced commissioners to consider other options.
Originally expected to cost less than $3 million when the HVAC upgrades were first proposed, the estimate grew to $5 million. Then in February, the lone bid on the project totaled more than $8 million, which stunned county officials. A project manager is working with the county to cut the bid down to $5.5 million, but County Administrator Clarice Proctor has said crews were having a difficult time reaching that price.
In April, Mason questioned the millions of dollars being spent to upgrade the complex, which was built in 1857. He added that he saw a need to have a conversation about a potential new building.
“We need to have an honest discussion about this building,” Mason said.
During a workshop in May, Mason said the county would not need to build from scratch or even house everything under one roof. He said counties in California have separate offices for various departments.
The proposed HVAC costs may be nearly enough for the county to purchase commercial space for the various county departments, such as deeds, probate, administration and perhaps Emergency Management Agency.
“We have a very old building, nobody is arguing that,” Mason said. “We have a building that needs a lot of capital improvements, and I think originally when we started working through these lists, we had what it would take for the building to remain for a long time. I don’t think that is the case now. We’re going to spend a lot of money on one project, while there is a lot of other things left to do.”
Commissioner Edouard Plourde of Lewiston said the county needs “a strategic plan for all county functions as it deals with facilities. He added that the county needs a 10- or 20-year plan dealing with the needs of the building
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