Forsyth County commissioners learned yesterday that it would take more money to buy and renovate the Phillips Building for a jail than to build a new jail and space for the sheriff's office, although the Phillips Building would have a lot more extra room for future growth.
Tom Calloway, the chief executive of the architectural firm Calloway Johnson Moore & West, presented commissioners with a report saying that it would take $56.7 million to buy and renovate the Phillips Building, compared with the alternative of spending $46.9 million to construct a new building on the south side of the jail.
The Phillips Building renovation would give the county 68,000 square feet of minimum-security jail cells, 75,000 square feet for the sheriff's office and 146,000 square feet of empty offices for future expansion.
By contrast, a new building would cost less but have only 21,000 square feet of space for future expansion, according to Calloway's study.
"You also have the consideration of building another downtown building with an existing building vacant," County Manager Dudley Watts said.
The six-story Phillips Building, built in 1972 and now empty, stands across Third Street from the county jail and could be connected to it with a pedestrian bridge over the street. In January, the county commissioners entered into an agreement to buy the Phillips Building from its owner, Winston Tower Church LLC ,for about $5.5 million, although the county can still walk away from the deal.
Watts said last night that the owners have agreed to extend the county's option to buy the property to mid-March, after the county board has had a chance to discuss all of its building needs during the commissioners' annual retreat in February.
That would give commissioners extra time to look into the county's needs and to see how the economy could affect finances in the coming months, said Gloria Whisenhunt, the chairwoman of the board of commissioners.
Although Whisenhunt is up for re-election Nov. 4, she said that the county is not in a position to make a quick decision before the election. The board received yesterday's report as information only, and the matter is not on the agenda for the its Monday meeting.
"My main thing right now is the financing," Whisenhunt said. "Oftentimes you start a project thinking it will have a certain price tag on it, and before you know it, it doesn't. I would have to have some firm numbers."
Commissioner Walter Marshall said that the cost of the Phillips Building is actually lower considering the amount of extra space it has.
"I think it is a pretty good deal based on what we need," Marshall said.
In his report, Calloway outlined some pros and cons for the county to consider. Buying and renovating the Phillips Building provides a better bridge connection to the existing jail, he said, but with renovation, there are unknown factors that could affect the cost.
Calloway said that a new building would offer the advantage of being designed for its purpose, but that it would be harder to connect to the jail, and that possibilities of expansion are limited.
■ Wesley Young can be reached at 727-7369 or at wyoung@wsjournal.com.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement