Robbinsville – A public hearing about the proposed Graham County Justice Center surprisingly drew a low attendance.
Feedback was mixed when the county provided an architectural rendering – in other words, not the final, approved design – to The Graham Star for publication in a report last year, with critics zeroing in on the facade of the draft.
Now with three different locations being discussed, the Graham County Board of Commissioners predicted a long night at the office when the public hearing was scheduled for March 20.
Instead, only 11 individuals signed in for the forum – and very few even spoke up during the hearing. In the wake of parking concerns at each of the locations, one local resident did suggest breaking up the plan of housing administrative offices, plus the Graham County Detention Center and the Graham County Sheriff’s Office inside the new courthouse.
Spots being considered for constructing the long-awaited structure are West Fort Hill, which is already home to the county’s 911 dispatch center, EMS headquarters, cemetery shop, senior center and transit hub; the front-end of the former Oak Valley Hardwoods plant off Snowbird Road; and the current location of the courthouse, at the corners of East and South Main streets in Robbinsville.
The 11-acre parcel on West Fort Hill was the county’s original preference, but extensive grading and parking concerns soon had commissioners scouting other areas.
The original target date for the justice center was fall 2025, with the estimated cost hovering around $20 million. Both the opening date and price tag have since went out the window.
Superior Court Judge William Coward signed a 2017 order that broke down the decaying conditions of the current Graham County Courthouse, which is on the National Register of Historic Places and sits at the same location where the county’s original justice center first broke ground in 1872. As such, the two-story structure – which has undergone multiple renovations – is still far behind the curve, with certain areas of the courthouse raising concerned eyebrows due to the questionable nature of their stability.
The current set-up includes just one courtroom; administrative offices squeezed onto both floors; and a minuscule detention center. Jury deliberation takes place in a building adjacent to the courthouse, due to a lack of space.
The sheriff’s office makes its home at the former Wachovia Bank off Rodney Orr Bypass, a building that was to be a temporary home for law enforcement after a May 17, 2010 fire set by a suspect destroyed the former office. Nearly 13 years later, the sheriff’s office remains in the cramped, two-story building, which does not include areas for private interviews or proper evidence storage.
Neither the courthouse nor the sheriff’s office are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The new justice center would encompass roughly 58,000 square feet and house almost all county operations.