Alamance County’s elected leaders have taken another step toward breaking ground on an expanded court building to meet the ever-expanding space needs of the local court system.
During a regularly-scheduled meeting on Monday, the county’s board of commissioners agreed to enter into a contract with Chapel Hill-based CRA Associates to handle the design work for a proposed renovation and expansion of the Judge J.B. Allen, Jr. Court House in Graham.
The county has previously commissioned this same firm to sketch out various plans for this multimillion dollar project. These proposals have raged from a four-story option with a price tag of $99 million to the latest contender, which envisions a more modest three-story addition to the existing courthouse with a projected cost of $37 million.
Brian Baker, an assistant county manager who has overseen this project’s development, told the commissioners that CRA has agreed to design this $37 million facility in return for a fee of $3.148 million. Baker added that this seven-figure sum is not altogether unreasonable given that architectural services usually comprise 10 percent of a project’s expense.
“It’s a big number but I feel good about that number,” he added. “It’s low for what you’d traditionally budget for design services.”
The commissioners went on approve CRA’s contract in a 4-to-1 vote – with the lone vote of dissent cast by commissioner Pam Thompson, who has consistently opposed any motion related to this endeavor.
