FLOYD COUNTY —
Now that the Floyd County Youth Shelter has found a new home, the question becomes what will happen to the North Annex along Grant Line Road.
The front two-story section of the building was constructed in 1878 and has served many purposes. Besides housing the youth shelter and other county offices in recent years, it has also been an infirmary and Floyd County Poor Home.
The building sits on about 20 acres and was recently appraised at $2.4 million. There was some interest from retailers prior to the economic downfall two years ago when the county was looking to sell the property.
“We have options as we move forward,” said Floyd County Commissioner Steve Bush. “We could sell the land and building, renovate it or tear it down and use the land for something else.”
The county recently purchased Pine View Elementary for $1.25 million and will soon begin renovating the building. The work could take up to a year to complete. Pine View will probably also house other offices such as juvenile probation.
“We have to get the youth shelter in place first,” said Mark Seabrook, president of the Floyd County Commissioners. “We don’t want to waste space down there.”
Seabrook said the county may decide to sell the North Annex and Reisz Building along Spring Street, and move all offices to Pine View. He said that would be an option.
“We have to look at what we can do, but we may not need all of these buildings,” he said. “We will have to get a lot of input from a lot of people.”
Greg Sekula, director of the Indiana Landmarks Southern Regional Office, said he would like to see the front section of the North Annex saved.
“That is certainly our hope,” he said. “Whether the county uses it for other purposes or sell it with the hopes someone else can use it or a developer can rehab it. The building can be fixed. It’s not beyond redemption.”
However, Floyd County Council President Ted Heavrin said the building is probably beyond repair.
“It would probably cost too much money to bring it up to date,” he said. “I don’t think anyone has the money to bring it up to standards. There is no way it can be saved unless someone has $3 million.”
Sekula said one possibility is to tear down the rear additions and concentrate on saving the two-story front section of the building.
David Barksdale, Floyd County historian, said in a past interview that he doesn’t want to see the county make mistakes that have been done in the past.
“I think we need to look at the options,” he said. “If this comes down, 20 years from now someone will say ‘why couldn’t they have saved that building?’”
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Related Photos
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The North Annex building is located along Grant Line Road in New Albany, photographed Sept. 8, 2010. Staff photo by Kevin McGloshen
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The North Annex building is located along Grant Line Road in New Albany, photographed Sept. 8, 2010. Staff photo by Kevin McGloshen
Discussion
Former home of Floyd County Youth Shelter could be sold, rehabilitated
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