The public is invited to attend an official groundbreaking for Clinton County’s new Annex Building on Wednesday, August 9 at 9 a.m. Crews have been working diligently since May to remove the old Regions Bank on the corner of Main and Washington Streets.
“If it feels like it took a long time to bring the old building down, that’s because it did,” says Dale Davis, Director of Planning at Envoy, the construction management and development company hired to oversee the project. “The old Regions bank was four buildings cobbled together over the years. The first three buildings were brought down with earth moving equipment. The fourth building shared a common, load-bearing wall with Arni’s, so we had to take it down by hand. If we pulled on the wrong floor joist, the wall could have gone with it. It was an incredibly tedious and complicated demolition.”
The new Annex Building will be separated from Arni’s by mere inches, but the public will not be able to see the transition. Regions Bank’s original basement walls will remain in place to ensure the neighboring streets, alley, and parking lot don’t buckle during construction. The new basement will be twice as deep but have a smaller footprint to ensure the new, stronger footings won’t disturb Arni’s foundation.
Construction on the new three-story, 41,925-square-foot County Annex building is scheduled to start in mid-August. The developer hopes to be done in late September or early October of 2024. Work is also set to begin on the exterior of the County Courthouse this Fall. Crews will repair masonry, replace lighting, fix window trims, repair the roof, and shore up woodwork.
“There are only a handful of companies qualified to do this kind of historic work,” says Jordan Brewer, president of the Clinton County Commissioners. “It’s going to be something to watch as the entire courthouse will be covered in scaffolding. But we see this as a generational investment. We want to do it right so future residents can continue to enjoy the building’s grandeur.”