By Shannon McFarlin News Director
Paris, Tenn.–At a busy session Tuesday evening, the Henry County Buildings and Grounds Committee voted unanimously to move forward with rehabilitation of the cupola on the county courthouse.
At the end of March, Tennessee Historical Commission staff Justin Heskew and Holly Barnett were in Paris for a tour of the cupola with County Mayor Randy Geiger. They offered guidance on how the $500,000 grant project could meet rehabilitation standards. The grant was awarded in December by the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development.
Geiger said it was an encouraging meeting. “They said to salvage what we can. They would like us to preserve the very top and they have no problem with using current materials. They would like to see a copper overlay on the tower so that if you’re looking at the courthouse from below, it would look the same as it does now.”
The courthouse was built in 1896.
The State Historical Commission also has no problem with a device that sounds like a bell, being installed in the bell tower (if it is deemed necessary to remove the bell), he said. “But they said we need to get the tower down and replicate it so that it looks like it does now.”
All of that would be “within the boundaries of the $500,000 grant”, Geiger said. Heskew also provided Geiger with contact information on a company that performs such work.
At the March meeting, the commissioners heard a dismal report from Engineer Patrick Smith on the bell tower condition. “To say it’s in bad shape is an understatement,” he said, citing deterioration in many spots, including the copper covering, the seams, the beams that support the tower, as well as a number of bricks missing from the walls. He showed a drone and video presentation that supported his findings
Both Chairman Marty Visser and Committee Member Tater Hayes stressed that first it must be determined that the bell tower is structurally sound. Hayes said, “It doesn’t do us any good to spend all this money to take it down and build a new one if the structure isn’t good.”
County Register of Deeds Pam Martin said, “What we need to focus on now is getting it down. That should be our main concern.” And it needs to be done as soon as possible, she said.
In other business:
–The Committee voted to recommend hiring the TLM Associates engineering/architectural firm of Jackson for the new county government building planned to be built on Hwy. 79S. Jerry Hartsfield of the TLM firm said he and architect/designer Christi Boone met earlier in the afternoon with county officials to earn the space needs for each office that would be moving into the new building.
The recommendation will be presented to the full County Commission at its April meeting.
Hartsfield said his firm will be completing the preliminary design, schematic design, construction documents and put the project out to bid. He said the project would cost some $396,000.
Committee Member Gatlin Primrose asked Hartsfield and Boone about delays in the hospital surgery suite project that was overseen by TLM.
Boone said the hospital project and the county office building project are two separate types of projects. “The county project is a standard design process. Outside of weather delays, it should be cut and dried.” She said, “Construction from the ground up is a big difference than a renovation project. Also, there’s a difference in the players involved.”
–The county is also looking at acquiring the old Henry County Medical Center Home Health building at 311 E. Wood Street to locate some county offices. An inspector is coming today to give county officials an idea of what issues may be present in the building.
Photo: Building and Grounds Committee Chair Marty Visser, second from left, makes a point during Tuesday’s meeting. From left are members Gatlin Primrose, Visser, Pam Martin, Tater Hayes and Patrick Burns, Shannon McFarlin photo.