Plans to remodel the former State Bank building into additional space for county governmental offices are not likely to gain much momentum anytime soon, county officials said this week.
The building ? located on the southwest corner of 10th and Fuller in Winfield ? was purchased for $725,000 in Oct. 2005. At the time county leaders said it was needed for office space because part of the original Cowley County Courthouse would need to be leveled to accommodate a new jail.
But plans changed, and the old courthouse remained intact with a new jail to the south of it. County commissioners have looked at a floor plan for a renovated version of the bank building but tight economic times mean work on a remodel, expected to cost at least $2 million, is unlikely to begin soon.
"At the present time there are no concrete plans to move forward with it," county manager Leroy Alsup said. "I think given the economic climate, we’re going to take it slow."
The building, he said, has gotten plenty of use lately. New computerized election equipment is stored there in a climate-controlled area and prosecutors in the murder trial of convicted murderer Justin Thurber used a conference room to work in.
The building also provides room for meetings and record storage, which do not require a remodel. Currently no county departments are cramped enough to require additional space, Alsup said.
The county could lease part of the building but would have to put it back on the tax rolls, which would create additional cost.
Long-time county commissioner Dick Bonfy said he’s comfortable with the wait-and-see approach to remodeling the building. He’s hopeful that contracts to lease jail space to outside agencies will materialize, providing some revenue for the remodel project.
"I think we bought it cheap enough that it made sense to buy it and know that we have it when we need it," he said. "I don’t want government to grow but at the same time people are demanding more services. I know someday we’ll need that space, it gives us some flexibility."
An interactive map of the former bank building’s location is shown below:
