CREEDE— In an announcement made by County Administrator Janelle Kukuk on Dec. 19, the county has been awarded $695,000 through the Underfunded Facility Grant for a new courthouse. The grant will be issued after the first of the year and is only one part of the money needed for the entire project. Commissioners are currently working with Kukuk to find a temporary location to move if the entire amount is funded.

The next step for the courthouse project will depend on a Department of Local Affairs grant that could potentially fund the remaining $1 million needed to complete the renovation and new construction on the courthouse. In a meeting held earlier in the fall, commissioners received preliminary plans from an engineering company that was used to help apply for the Underfunded Facility grant.

Commissioners listened to a presentation of preliminary plans from Reynolds, Ash and Associates back in September. The plans that were presented were one of three the commissioners have been reviewing over the last several months and would be funded through the Underfunded Courthouse grant as well as other federally funded grants if awarded.

The meeting was hosted by Brad Ash who took a moment to walk commissioners through the plans and gain feedback from the board as well as Holly Wheelwright, county court clerk and Tom Sullivan from the State Court System who were present by phone. The courthouse would be extended by roughly 2,000 square feet from the outer wall of the current courtroom to the north. The changes would include adding a shared jury room/commissioner meeting chambers and a whole new courtroom for proceedings.

The engineering company and preliminary plans were funded through another grant that was issued to the county in the amount of $30,000, also from the Underfunded Courthouse Facility Commission. Now, Kukuk will be working to apply for an Energy and Mineral Impact Grant through DOLA that could potentially pay for the remainder of the project.

In the meantime, Kukuk will be looking for a temporary location in case funding is awarded. “We will need a place to move to if the funding is awarded because of our dedicated information in the clerk’s office and sheriff’s department,” explained Kukuk. If funding is awarded, Kukuk explained that they could potentially be looking to move temporarily sometime in June, with construction to be completed by the following summer of 2019.