Okaloosa approves contract for annex renovations
DUSTY RICKETTS / Daily News
Oct 17, 2012 at 12:01 AM Oct 17, 2012 at 4:42 PM
Okaloosa County commissioners have approved a contract to begin renovating the courthouse annex in Shalimar as long as a previous court ruling is upheld on appeal.
FORT WALTON BEACH � Okaloosa County commissioners have approved a contract to begin renovating the courthouse annex in Shalimar as long as a previous court ruling is upheld on appeal.
Commissioners unanimously approved the $6 million contract with Lord & Son Construction on Tuesday evening to renovate the 66,000-square-foot courthouse annex to house the tax collector, property appraiser, clerk of courts, supervisor of elections and the county commissioners. There also will be 15,000 square feet reserved for court facilities.
�This allows us to commence immediately with the schematic design, begin a lot of that drawing part of the work for when we hopefully get that favorable upholding of the appeal. Then we can immediately proceed onsite with construction work,� County Administrator Jim Curry said.
The annex was built in 1976 after the Meigs family deeded the property to Okaloosa County in 1973. The deed included a reverter clause that stated the land would revert to the family if all court functions were removed.
The county asked the court for a declaratory judgment on the reverter clause in 2010.
Circuit Judge Michael Overstreet of the 14th Judicial Circuit in Bay County ruled in early February that the county had not �abandoned the (Shalimar) Annex property� by building the new judicial center annex extension on Lewis Turner Boulevard. Overstreet also ruled that the county�s renovation plan � which sets aside the judicial space � satisfies the deed requirement for a permanent judicial facility.
The Meigs heirs appealed the ruling. Curry said a decision on the appeal is expected in February or March.
Lord & Son soon will begin the first phase of the project, which includes the design work valued at $166,597. If Overstreet�s ruling is upheld, construction on the renovations could begin almost immediately after that.
�I�m confident Lord & Son will do whatever is necessary to get it done,� Commissioner Wayne Harris said. �They�re a good company and I respect them.�
However, the county included verbiage in the contract to allow it to end the agreement after phase one if the appeal goes against the county.
Curry said Okaloosa is moving forward with the design before the appeal decision is made because it is on a critical timeline. The county leases about 25,000 square feet of office space for the tax collector and property appraiser in JG Plaza at Uptown Station for about $400,000 a year. That lease expires in February 2014, and the county hopes to move those offices to the Shalimar annex before that happens.
�When construction commences, those offices will be the priority to have ready by February 2014,� Curry said.
Contact Daily News Business Editor Dusty Ricketts at 850-315-4448 or dricketts@nwfdailynews.com. Follow him on Twitter @DustyRnwfdn.