County manager: courthouse renovation stays, courtroom addition paused because sprinklers push project over budget

County Manager Dia Denton told the Board of Commissioners that an $8.7 million appropriation from the North Carolina General Assembly will fund major renovations to the county courthouse but the project scope has been narrowed because of building-code costs.

Denton said the county received two grants from the state — $450,000 for planning and $8,250,000 for construction — and that architects’ initial estimates exceeded the available budget. The revised plan retains the primary goal of upfitting the third floor (approximately 18,000 square feet) and will relocate the District Attorney’s office and judges to that floor, add two stairwells and an elevator shaft, and create additional office and storage space.

Denton said the renovation will not include adding a new courtroom on the third floor at this time. Doing so would trigger building-code requirements to install a sprinkler system throughout the building, a work item the manager said carried a price tag of more than $1 million. Because of those additional code-related costs the county has deferred the courtroom addition until additional funding is available.

Denton briefed the board on the project delivery method (construction manager at-risk) and said contractors will schedule much of the work at night and on weekends to minimize disruption to court activity. She also reported that interest earned on the project balance is helping close a small funding gap — approximately $262,000 has accumulated in interest on the earmarked funds — and that those earnings may reduce or eliminate a planned request for capital-reserve funding.

The manager said bids have not yet been awarded and final cost estimates will depend on the competitive bid results; further updates will come as the construction manager completes the estimate and the board considers any required supplemental funding.