Tribune staff editorial

After years of debate, it seems the courthouse issue in Freeborn County has found a conclusion – so quietly and so unceremoniously that if you weren’t watching closely, you probably wouldn’t have noticed.

Friday, February 08, 2002

After years of debate, it seems the courthouse issue in Freeborn County has found a conclusion – so quietly and so unceremoniously that if you weren’t watching closely, you probably wouldn’t have noticed.

The big decisions were made in December, when the Freeborn County board elected not to pursue an off-site judicial facility, which would have moved the jail and courts to a new location in the county.

The only question left at that point was in what manner the courthouse would expand on its downtown site. That question was apparently answered when the board voted to demolish the historic Western Grocer building just south of the courthouse. The only reason for doing so? Vacating Pearl Street and expanding the courthouse in that direction.

It appears the future courthouse will include expansion across Pearl Street as well as new offices where the parking lot to the east of the building now sits.

This is probably the best plan available to commissioners; it preserves the oldest and best portion of the existing courthouse and keeps all of the departments under the same roof – and keeps them downtown.

There are still questions to be answered, and this is not a done deal. We still don’t know exactly what a new courthouse will look like, or how much it will cost. There are sure to be more major decisions the board must make.

But so far, the board can be commended for their handling of the issue. They explored every option they found feasible and eliminated the inferior ideas. They did so without too much divisiveness. This is certainly a positive step not only in the history of the courthouse debate, but a positive one for the sometimes divided board of commissioners.