week of 2/13/02
 
 
 

Downtown choice could get justice center back on track
SMN
Haywood County commissioners voted two weeks ago to keep the new justice center in downtown Waynesville, emerging from months of criticism, derision and poor decision making on their own part to make the best choice for locating the new facility. The lessons of the past 10 months should prove helpful as they move to the next — and by most estimations, most important — phase in completing this project.

Finding the right site for the justice center had become, according to one observer who followed the zig-zagging commissioners, a comedy of errors. Land in the wrong place at too high a price was almost purchased, while land in the right place that had already been bought was suddenly deemed wrong. In the end, it took a $2.5 million from Waynesville to convince commissioners to stay downtown, completing a circuitous route around the county seat looking for potential locations.

For a moment, let’s just say thanks. Locating the new justice center downtown will do many good things for this community, so many it is difficult to list them all. Local heritage is being protected. History is being remembered. It will foster business development, expand downtown, adhere to smart growth principles, increase the livability and walkability of downtown, and increase the tax base of the downtown area. It was simply a smart move, and commissioners should be applauded for coming around to that realization.

But let’s also look ahead. Many — including at least one commissioner, Mary Ann Enloe — believe the space needs study being used by architects is flawed. It overestimates case filings, and therefore projects space needs for court personnel beyond what will actually be needed. In short, the building as so far planned is too big.

There have been a host of suggestions for solving this dilemma, from simply downsizing the current needs assessment to having an alternative study done. At the very least, commissioners would be wise to spend perhaps a day or two listening in detail to those who have studied the plan and found flaws. Perhaps Howard Geisler, author of the original study, should be present. If millions can be saved, then it is worth the time to have another and better study done.

Second, the relationship with the architects chosen for the justice center project needs to re-defined. At several meetings, architects treated suggestions from commissioners, county staff and task force members as the utterances of hicks who simply did not know anything about what was needed. The truth is that good architecture is about people, usage and local history. In short, Haywood County needs architects who will design a building for this community, not one designed just to make them money.

County commissioners have fought their way down a tough road to get to this point. Now, however, is not the time to simply scale back and build according to some vague sense of what is needed. We need more information to build the best building at the best price.