DERIDDER, La. (AP) - The Beauregard Parish Police Jury has accepted bids for a temporary courthouse to be set up while renovation of the 100-year-old building used by the state’s 36th District Judicial Court is underway.
The American Press reported (https://bit.ly/1eOXZNb) the courthouse renovation is being done in several steps.
The Police Jury’s building committee this past week accepted a bid from Carlton Construction Co. for renovation of a former church to serve as the temporary courthouse.
The work will cost about $195,900 and will include bringing the building into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. After that’s done, courtrooms and offices of the Beauregard clerk of court will move into the temporary building while construction is completed on the courthouse.
The courthouse project is not without disputes.
Police Juror Llewellyn “Biscuit” Smith said officials of the city of DeRidder are requiring the Police Jury to pay nearly $25,000 in permitting fees.
The Police Jury and the city also are involved in a dispute over parking, with the city pushing for more parking than planned in the courthouse renovation project.
Parish Administrator Bobby Hennigan said the Police Jury has no plans to put parking on the north side of the building and that construction may displace some existing parking places on the street.
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Information from: American Press, https://www.americanpress.com
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