CRESTVIEW — After a comprehensive presentation by Okaloosa County officials, the Crestview City Council shifted their support behind the new courthouse orientation decision.
Three dozen residents filled the City Council chamber Thursday night for a special council meeting, during which County Commissioner Nathan Boyles and Public Works Director Jason Autrey described the process that led to rotating the new building's footprint clockwise to face the north leg of Main Street.
As a Main Street business and property owner and former member of the Historic Preservation Board, Boyles said he, too, was at first skeptical of the orientation away from the courthouse's traditional southern orientation down Main Street.
"I share a love of historic downtown Crestview," Boyles said. "I'm heavily invested in downtown Crestview."
But the courthouse's designers' technical review of site options, including an exhaustive analysis of how best to situate the new building, changed his mind.
"Their decision was rotating the building like they did in the '50s would take the best advantage of that site," Boyles said. "I went from being a skeptic to being a supporter."
REQUIREMENTS
Autrey said the building's requirements drove its site situation.
"We spent the majority of the upfront time saying, 'What did the building need?'" he said.
For starters, to allow growth, the new, four-courthouse building will be 68,000 square feet, surpassing the current courthouse's 42,000 square feet.
Despite diligent efforts and much brain-wracking, the plan could not be wedged into the site's limited property. Noting that the current building is already rotated clockwise from the original 1918 courthouse, designers recommended further rotation to take full advantage of the site.
"The building is set back 60 feet from Main Street," Autrey said. "You will see the columns when you approach it, but you won't be looking right at the front. The best part of it is, if we ever want to expand, go right ahead."
PRAISE
Council members were pleased with the detailed explanation and presentation of design renderings prepared to show actual vantage points from downtown streets toward the new courthouse.
The belated presentation also smoothed some feathers ruffled when councilmen and members of the public felt the decision to approve the orientation was pushed through at county commissioners' Shalimar meeting earlier this month.
"I liked what we had tonight," Councilman JB Whitten said. "I would've liked to have had that before the vote took place."
"If I had seen this presentation before last Monday's meeting, I might have been a little more swayed," Councilman Doug Faircloth said.
"We needed to know the facts before we jumped the gun," Councilman Shannon Hayes said to Boyles and Autrey. "I really respect you for coming here. I really think in your heart this wouldn't have become such a big issue."
Okaloosa County Public Works Director Jason Autrey offered these factors that led to the decision to rotate the new Crestview courthouse to face Main Street's north leg.
●Improved access to mechanical areas
●Adjacent cell tower separation
●Circulation/facility access
●Entrance toward Main Street
●Maximize parking
●Preservation of 50-foot oak tree on north side
●Potential expansion
●Security
●Underground utilities currently running through site
●View from Main Street
COURTHOUSE SITE CONSIDERATIONS
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview council adds support for courthouse orientation