This week Guilford County government is closing its books on five major construction and renovation projects that were, in some cases, a long time coming.

The county has finally finished all the work on these long-term capital projects and, on Thursday, May 18,  the Guilford County Board of Commissioners is expected to declare them officially closed and also expected to move any remaining money that was appropriated to the projects to a fund for use on future capital projects.

About two decades ago, Guilford County Emergency Services began requesting a new maintenance, repair and logistics facility. The Emergency Services Department operated more and more vehicles every year but had a facility way to small to repair and maintain that fleet.  The age and poor design of the facility slowed everything down.  The machinery failed frequently and there wasn’t enough parking, so, to even get to a vehicle, workers often had to move several other parked vehicles.

However, in 2013, Guilford County allocated about $14 million for the new facility that’s now in the books and up and running – much to the delight of county Emergency Services staff.

Another project finally being declared over and done with is the renovation of the county’s Greene Street Center, a facility used by several county departments. A renovation plan, which was adopted in 2009 with a budget of about a half million dollars, will be declared as complete by the board this week.

The Guilford County Courthouse in downtown Greensboro has had so many problems over the years that an angry judge once threatened a lawsuit against the county commissioners for not providing adequate and safe courthouse facilities as required by North Carolina law.  In a surreal scene that evening, a Guilford County Sheriff’s Deputy served papers to each of the stunned commissioners just minutes before the start of a county commissioners meeting in the Old Guilford County Court House.

Since then, the county has worked to improve conditions in the courthouse, with one major upgrade being a new HVAC system. That project began in 2017 with an allocation of just over $1 million.  It will be taken off the county’s books this week.

The county’s courthouse in High Point also got a new HVAC system. That project, which was allocated just over $1.3 million in 2015, is also being declared complete.

Last but not least, the Board of Commissioners is closing the books on a fifth project.  In 2016, the board allocated about a half million dollars for repairs to the parking deck at the Independence Center at 400 W. Market St. in Greensboro.  That building houses the county’s Tax Department, the Planning and Zoning Department and others.  Employees and visitors in the building now have a nicer place to park their cars.

Money that was allocated but not used for each of the five projects will now go into the Guilford County Building Construction Fund for future appropriation by the commissioners.

 

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