Principal Building Dead End for Hall County Courthouse Option
Grand Island, NE - The Hall County Board of Commissioners met this past Tuesday to continue discussions on the possibility of a new Hall county courthouse or potentially going the route of adding on to what is currently downtown. Recently the idea came about of possibly using the old Principal building off State Street. Board members and architects from Davis Design toured the facility. Several questions of concern were raised of the building. Glass windows, ceiling height, travel from the jail to the building, a school across the street, the columns inside, and next to a residential area. Hall County Facility Director Lauren Humphrey stated to the board that the boiler room is originally from 1980. The structure needs a new HVAC system that could cost $15 to $20 million.
The building is currently held by Grand Island Public Schools which is paying Principal for the property. On January 5th, 2024 GIPS will pay their annual Base Lease Payment of $375,000. After the January 5th payment, GIPS will be halfway paid off for the property.
After most of the concerns were discussed Commissioner Butch Hurst mentioned to the Davis Design “It just seems silly that we’re spending all your time and effort on a building one we don’t even know if it’s for sale and second of all we don’t know how much if it is for sale what it is. How hard of an answer could it be to get from the school system? Yes, it’s for sale, no it isn’t and how much”.
Hall County Sherriff Rick Conrad gave his thoughts on the building “There is a residential area right to the south of it. There is a school to the north of it. So you have to start thinking what kind of things are going to happen in this courthouse. How many times are you going to have to go into lockdown in the schools. I wouldn’t put any courtrooms on that lower level. So you're going to try and cram things on that top level which I don’t think your going to have space for. Size-wise, it’s hard not to like it. But just for those reasons alone, citizens, and thinking about the kids in the schools. Right there I’d be a hard no”.
In closing, the Principal Building looks to be a dead end as a motion was made and passed to now go back to the original plan with Davis Design to focus on the addition to the current courthouse.
The next Hall County Board of Commissioners meeting will be on Tuesday, January 2nd starting at 9:00 am.
