Progress on Long-Delayed Plans for a New Courthouse: Commission Picks Location

The Transylvania County Commission chooses the least expensive site for building a new courthouse, contingent on future cost reports: a parcel on Morris Road north of downtown Brevard.

The historic Transylvania County Courthouse in downtown Brevard pictured last year

BREVARD — When the Transylvania County Commission met Monday, it was told that building a badly needed new courthouse on a county-owned parcel north of downtown Brevard would cost an estimated $44 million.

Building on the grounds of the current East Main Street location, on the other hand, was expected to run the county nearly $57 million.

That’s really all commissioners needed to know, said Commissioner Teresa McCall.

“You don’t spend $13 million you don’t have to spend,” she said, referring to the difference in the costs.

This view was apparently shared by a majority of commissioners, who voted 4-1 to build at the Morris Road site, near the county’s public safety facility, over the protests of several speakers who favored building it downtown.

The one “no” vote came from Commission Vice Chair Jake Dalton, who said that he was not “fully prepared” to make a final decision on Monday and referred to other options for the location he had learned about in a meeting with a local architect.

“I think there are some other ideas that we’re not considering,” he said.

The three options that were presented included another downtown site, a county-owned parcel near the Transylvania County Library on South Broad Street, the current location of New Adventure Child Development.

This estimated cost of building on that land, $53 million, included relocation of this “childcare facility,” said a memo prepared by county staff. The memo also said that finding and building a replacement home for New Adventure “would extend the timeline for the courthouse construction.”

The price of building on the grounds of the historic courthouse, parts of which were completed in 1881, would be bumped up by the “relocation of existing court facilities and would require additional land acquisition,” the memo said. “This option would also require structured parking.”

At the beginning of the meeting, local lawyer Davis Whitfield-Cargile pointed out that this parking could benefit the city while court was not in session. Parking at the Morris Road site, on the other hand, would remain largely unused.

“The downtown, next to the (existing) courthouse, is the best place to put it,” said Whitfield-Cargile, a member of an ad hoc committee that included several architects and, before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, extensively discussed possible courthouse locations.

“Where would the county most benefit from a . . . parking lot?” he asked rhetorically. “Downtown,” he said.

He also questioned the need for a planned unfinished third-floor shell to accommodate future space needs considering the limited land in the county available for extensive residential construction.

“Transylvania doesn’t have the growth potential that Henderson County has,” he said.

Several commissioners agreed with him on this point. Eliminating that shell would save about $6.7 million from the cost of building at any of the locations, according to estimates presented to the commission.

But all cost estimates were updated in April of 2022, and should be considered just that — estimates useful for comparison, not for forecasting real costs, said Commission Chairman Jason Chappell.

“These are not accurate numbers,” he said. “So much has changed.” 

The county has been discussing the need for a courthouse since at least 2005, according to the presentation. And the urgency of that need was emphasized by Peter Knight, the senior resident Superior Court Judge for the district that includes Transylvania, in an 11-page letter he sent to the county in September.

It outlined the long history of the effort to replace the courthouse and its many deficiencies, including leaks, mold, collapse-prone ceilings and cramped quarters that could compromise the legal integrity of proceedings.

The space constraints also hamper the work of prosecutors, District Attorney Andrew Murray said during a tour of the courthouse last April. In a brief interview at Monday’s meeting, he said his office had no position on the location of the construction, but just wanted to “get it done.”

Opposition to the proposed Morris Road location helped derail previous plans for the construction of the courthouse. In June of 2018, building it there was referred to as a “$31-million capital project,” according to minutes of a Commission meeting.

Two years later, an architect hired to look at potential courthouse sites estimated costs of $45 million for near the current downtown location and $37 million for the Morris Road parcel.

A county financial consultant told the Commission last year that building a new courthouse would likely require a slight property tax increase, though on Monday commissioners made plans to act on a previous suggestion from Dalton — that the county explore the possibility of adding a local-option sales tax to help fund the project.

The Commission also agreed to form a committee to discuss the future use of the old courthouse, which several of them said was integral to maintaining the character of downtown Brevard.

And finally, the Commission amended its motion to approve the Morris Road location contingent on future cost estimates.

Because of such considerations, Whitfield-Cargile said after the discussion, he does not consider the choice final.

 “Until a decision is made and monies are committed, a decision is nothing more than five people saying so,” he said.

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