[Southsider2k12]

http://www.thenewsdispatch.com/articles/20...09675244796.txt

Residents: Leave courthouse as is

The La Porte County Courthouse. Photo by Bob Wellinski
By Bridget Flynn
Staff Writer
Published: Wednesday, November 17, 2010 5:12 PM CST
LA PORTE — While the County Council considers sinking more money into staining the county courthouse, local residents think a face-lift is not necessarily La Porte County’s first priority.

Selena Macias, La Porte, said the courthouse is fine just the way it is.

“I think it’s better that way,” she said. “It gives it more character. It makes it look kind of old.”

Jeannette Craft, La Porte, doesn’t think staining the courthouse is a project worth spending county funds on.

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“It doesn’t matter to me,” she said. “It’s not necessary.”

Engineering firm Ken Herceg & Associates will submit a proposal to the County Council to share the costs of cleaning and staining the courthouse. Still, county residents think roads are at the top of the priority list.

“We have more problems with the roads around here than anything,” Ryan Sims, Mill Creek, said. “They already had Ziolkowski out here a couple of years ago, and it didn’t turn out too well.”

South Bend-based Ziolkowski Construction Inc., renovated the courthouse from 2006 to 2007. Its original bid was $2.691 million. Ziolkowski sued the county for $1.2 million in 2006 over a contract dispute. In February 2008, the lawsuit was settled for 375,000.

Lori Flotow, New Carlisle, echoed Sims’ sentiments.

“I don’t think at this point it’s really necessary,” she said. “There are better places they could be spending money, like the roads.”

County Commissioner Barbara Huston is dissatisfied with the building’s appearance.

“If I wanted a white building, I would have whitewashed it,” she said. “We paid millions of dollars plus a lawsuit for it to look like (this). I personally don’t think it’s up to the county.”

Council president Mark Yagelski said when the renovations were done, they were paid for with money from the general fund, a fund which he said is depleted.

“We don’t have any money right now,” he said. “I don’t see (cleaning and staining) happening in the foreseeable future.”

Yagelski said he is waiting to see Herceg’s proposal, adding that during difficult economic times when budgets are being cut, cosmetic renovations to the courthouse are not the most important thing to him.

“This is not my priority,” he said.

Yagelski said if Herceg’s proposal has a “contingent on time,” that might prompt the council to act to have the courthouse renovated soon.

Ken Herceg & Associates likely will have a proposal ready in a couple of weeks.

[MichiganCityDDS]

Is this purrely cosmetic? If so, why are they considering it now?