Health Department building’s future still in question

The Nelson County Board of Supervisors received more information on the state of the Nelson County Health Department Building at the courthouse complex in Lovingston at its Nov. 10 meeting.

Supervisors are currently trying to decide the fate of the 60-year-old building that now houses the public health department, the sheriff’s office, the general registrar and a dental office, after discoveries of manhole and sanitary lines have prevented final construction on the lower parking lot of the new courthouse complex from taking place.

In March, construction began on a new courthouse complex for the county that will include a new two-story facility that will house emergency services, the sheriff’s office, and general district and juvenile domestic courts. It also calls for renovation of the current sheriff’s offices, construction of a central public entrance and expansion of parking lots and new landscaping.

The entire project is slated to cost $7 million.

At their Nov. 10 meeting, supervisors heard from Randy Vaughan, of Wiley and Wilson, the Lynchburg-based architectural firm that designed the new courthouse complex, on his evaluation of the current health department building and options on what to do with it.

The question has now become whether to demolish the building or renovate it, and how much would each option cost.

Vaughan said he did a walk-through and visual inspection of the building in October and that the concrete structure of the building was solid.

“It is amazing that I saw not one crack in the structure,” Vaughan said. “…But from there, it takes a turn downhill.”

Vaughan said the electrical system in the building was in “very poor” condition and that the “wiring was somewhat suspect.”

Vaughan said he found other problems with the interior of the building as well.

In the report Vaughan gave to the supervisors, he wrote, “there is no insulation in this wall system and it would fall woefully short of complying with current building code and energy standards.”

“The windows are in poor condition and do not meet today’s energy standards,” he wrote.

Vaughan also said almost all of the entryways to the building do not comply with current ADA accessibility standards and that the condition of the buildings heating and cooling system is poor.

“The system is original to the building and is antiquated,” Vaughan said. “There is no central air condition system and the building is cooled by a series of window units located throughout.”

Vaughan said the electrical system in the building is “by far the most distressed system” and that it has been added on to over the years and “not always in a workmanlike manner.”

Vaughan brought other issues to the table such as rezoning the parcel the building sits on if the building was added on to because of current setback requirements and where the current tenants would go if the building were bulldozed to the ground.

The building is also registered as a contributing structure in the Lovingston Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places, Vaughan said, and any change to the building would have to be approved by the federal government.

Vaughan presented supervisors with six options on what to do with the building and the parcel of land it occupies, ranging from simply renovating the interior of the existing building for $1.463 million to demolishing it entirely and building a brand new 27,000 square foot building for $7.3 million.

Nelson County Administrator Steve Carter said the county could have access to state funds for the health department, which would provide $1.2 million over a period of 20 years, for a new building or the renovation of an existing one.

Supervisor chairperson Allen Hale said he didn’t think the county was in a position to take on new construction projects because of a reduced state budget.

Supervisors asked staff to bring them more information on what the cost difference between long-term leasing of another building and renovating the current one would be at their next meeting.

The supervisors next scheduled meeting is on Dec. 8 at 2 p.m. at the Nelson County Courthouse in Lovingston.