West Memphis fire stations, courthouse in need of facelifts

West Memphis fire stations, courthouse in need of facelifts

City looking at options for making repairs

news@theeveningtimes.com

Costly repairs for at least three West Memphis City buildings are under study.

A new study group was nominated during a special city council meeting on November 27.

Fire stations 3 and 4 need upgrades. One station has a crack in the wall wide enough to pass a quarter from the kitchen to the dorm. Firefighters were concerned enough that he city hired an engineer last summer to determine if the building was safe to occupy. The needed repair expenses were not yet determined nor were repairs added into next year’s budget.

Budget and Fire Commission Chairman Tracy Catt told city council what was cooking.

“We have a lot of building issues coming forward in 2019,” said Catt. “District Court is on the front burner, along with Station 3 and 4.

It needs to be dealt with quickly. It requires at least a million dollars in capital outlay.”

Do we have to dip into surplus funds, do we have enough to do these things?” asked Councilman James Pulliaum.

“We are really talking about a bond issue here,” said Martin. “We have an engineers report on the courthouse and it is horrible. It’s leaking like a sieve.”

“We need to put all the municipal buildings on the list and do them with one bond,” said Pulliaum.

The 1938 brick two-story courthouse building was one of 17 locations in the county on the National Register of Historic Places.

The building featured both Art Deco style and 19th and 20th Century Revival aspects. The construction of the Spartan building began as a Public Works Administration project toward the end of the great Depression. The north portion of the building originally housed city offices and the south side quartered a fire station and a jail. The courtroom wing was added in 1946 and another jail enlargement finished in 1961. The building at 100 Court Square bears the name of O.I. Bollinger who served 33 years on city council.

“The building was added onto five times,” said Martin.

This time last year the city pursued an architect to assess the costs. “This resolution to attract an architect for some potential work on the old O.I. Bollinger building,” said Mayor Bill Johnson in December 2017.

While the two fire stations and the court house lead the needs, city buildings in general will get repair and renovation considerations.

The Civic Center and City Auditorium were renovated with A& P funds this year.

A new city Library is coming out of the ground this year thanks to the library tax. It rains inside the police department evidence rooms. The new study group was set to survey renovation needs with the idea a bond issue keying the funds to do the work.

By John Rech