.jpg)
The Buena Vista General District Courtroom, which also serves as City Council’s chambers, is to undergo remodeling in the next couple of months.
City Council on Thursday voted 7-0 to allocate $100,000 in America Rescue Plan Act funds for the remodeling, which is to involve flipping the configuration of the room, replacing furniture, fixtures and carpeting and integrating new audio-visual and communication technology into an upgraded electrical system.
The impetus for the renovations was a request from Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Judge Paul Tucker to improve the security of the courtroom. Over the years, similar pleas have been made by other judges. Undertaking the upgrades will necessitate making other improvements to the Municipal Building to conform with Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines.
Plans are in the works to install an elevator in a shaft that was included in the building when it was constructed back in 1969. Equipment in the shaft is going to have to be relocated elsewhere in the building. City Manager Jason Tyree said the installation of the elevator and related work, which is to also be paid for with ARPA funds, would likely have a price tag of up to $120,000.
As for future plans to meet ADA requirements, Tyree said, “The goal is to do one job each year to show we’re trying to bring the building into compliance.”
The courtroom renovation work is to include the installation of equipment so that City Council meetings can be livestreamed in the future. The renovation work, which is to be undertaken by MBA Contracting LLC of Buena Vista, is to take about three weeks to complete. During the construction process, City Council meetings and General District Court sessions will be held in the Circuit Courtroom at the opposite end of the first floor of the Municipal Building.
