A contingent of Hyde County citizens is condemning the demolition of the county’s uncondemned courthouse after local commissioners voted unanimously to begin a $15 million rebuilding project. The new structure will house the judicial and public safety departments of the county.
The decision to begin new construction was made after the courthouse, situated in Swan Quarter, was flooded repeatedly in recent years. The latest flood occurred in September 2003, when the eye of Hurricane Isabel landed in the area, causing a two- to four-foot storm surge to cover most of the county seat and site of the historic courthouse.
About 800 of the county’s 5,500 residents have signed a petition to get a court injunction that would halt construction of the building, Chamber of Commerce President Jane Gibbs said. Most of the concerned residents want to know why one building had to be torn down and yet another portion has remained to be cleaned up and used in the near future, she said.
Many county residents think something underhanded has been going on, especially since the county commissioners conducted a public meeting Jan. 30, 2006 on the new building and then had contractors begin demolition on the site less than two weeks later, Gibbs said.
“The people of Hyde County are really upset over what’s going on,” Gibbs said. “[County officials] are in a mighty hurry to get this done and the people are heartsick. It just makes my blood boil, to tell you the truth.”
During the public meeting, Hyde County resident William Howard testified the commissioners weren’t thinking of the future of the county when they decided to place the building at the same site. He asked the officials to consider placing the matter on a voting ballot.
Gibbs agrees with this assessment. “They are building it in the floodplain in the same place where it’s flooded nine times. If we‘ve got to spend the money, let‘s put it up in a higher area where it can be landscaped with plenty of parking. Now it‘s going back up on a tiny lot.”
Other residents complained about spending a large sum of money while the county’s population is decreasing. The quick demolition of the old courthouse shocked those who had asked for caution and rethinking.
County Commissioner Jane Hodges said the plans to reconstruct a new courthouse were a long time in the making. She said several well-publicized public meetings were conducted before the demolition.
The commissioners considered moving the building to another area of the county, but many residents of the county seat said the courthouse should stay in at present site, Hodges said.
“We were open to whatever we could do within our budget constraints,” she said. “The majority of the people, however, said to leave (the courthouse) in Swan Quarter. Without the courthouse, Swan Quarter would be dead. It has failed to thrive since Hurricane Isabel. That’s why people have fought so long and so hard to keep it in Swan Quarter.”
A solid concrete block with tunnels was installed in the historical part of the courthouse, built in the early 1800s, after Hurricane Floyd. The tunnels allowed the water to flow in and out quickly during the most recent flood, Hodges said.
The other section, built in the 1930s, was destroyed, she said. Although it was never condemned, Hodges said, it should be removed.
Gibbs said she doesn’t think county officials have made the right decision. She said many in the community, who now refer to the project as “the hole,” want a referendum. “This is a major issue,” she said. “It’s a countywide issue.”
Hyde County Manager Kevin Howard said the decision to build the new courthouse at the existing site was a matter of economics.
The county already owned the land at the site and it didn’t make sense to purchase new property in Swan Quarter, he said. The struggling government couldn’t afford the added expense, especially since construction costs have soared since Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in September.
Construction costs have risen from $9 million to $14 million since the original estimate, he said. “We knew it was going to go up,” he said. “But, we didn’t realize it would be that much. As the government, you have a fine line of what you need and what you need for more growth. We simply could not afford to build more building.”
As it stands, the major funding for the project, $8 million, was appropriated from the Hurricane Recovery Act of 2005. Howard said the rest would be raised through various sources.
When it’s complete, the new courthouse will sit on pilings 14 feet off the ground, seven feet higher than any known storm surge in the area.
“When I got here it was already decided to rebuild in the same location,” he said. “I think it was decided rather than let it happen again to get the courthouse off the ground and start again.”
It’s a good decision because employees were starting to be sickened by growing mold, Howard said.
The county doesn’t need a larger courthouse, Howard said, because he doesn’t foresee the county staff increasing, even if the population increases significantly.
Gibbs said county officials should slow down and do the right thing before proceeding with the project. “I’m going to beg them to stop building the courthouse until it’s brought before the people,” Gibbs said. “It should have been on a referendum in the first place.”
Karen Welsh is a contributing editor for Carolina Journal.