CRESTVIEW — The Okaloosa County Courthouse has faced Crestview’s downtown district for almost 100 years, but that appears likely to change.
Okaloosa County Commissioners’ recent approval of an orientation adjustment for the new courthouse didn’t sit well with Crestview Historic Preservation Board members.
“It has not shifted a little bit,” board President Ann Spann said. “It has shifted so the new courthouse is now facing west. It is facing Pine Street, which is a dead-end, one-way street.”
Spann said the 3-2 decision — with Commissioners Carolyn Ketchell and Kelley Windes casting nay votes — during a Tuesday morning meeting in Shalimar allowed Crestview residents no convenient opportunity for input.
She said the Historic Preservation Board asked commissioners to delay voting on the new orientation until they met June 7 in Crestview. “The county commissioners turned this into, ‘Oh, it’ll delay things. It will cost more money,’” Spann said. “We asked for a change of even a few degrees to have at least part of the columns and the antebellum look overlooking the historic district and historic downtown Crestview.”
County Commissioner Nathan Boyles said he understood the historic board’s concern, but acted on the building designers’ recommendation to accommodate site restrictions. “The site was very constrained, and there are utilities on the site that had to be taken into consideration,” he said. “Because of those constraints, the designers recommended that the orientation be changed.”
The reorientation will provide eight more parking spots — for a total of 169 — than the original placement. More parking will also be provided at a county-owned lot on Wilson Street and Beech Avenue.
Spann said, until Tuesday morning’s meeting, few Crestview residents were aware the building might rotate.
“We feel … that many in the business district and the city are not aware of what they’re getting,” she said. “We feel the citizens should have an opportunity to at least be aware of how this should be oriented on the site.”
“It isn’t really about peoples’ preferences,” Boyles said. “It’s about aligning a much bigger building on a site in a way that’s feasible. The design team made it clear there was a single preferred orientation.”
Spann said the historic board appreciates initially being consulted on the courthouse design to assure the building complements the historic district’s architecture.
“The Historic Preservation Board was very grateful for the courtesies extended to us in the design of the courthouse with the classic façade, which makes for a very beautiful building,” she said. “It’s certainly historical and aesthetically correct. Why wouldn’t you want it facing the historic district?”
Boyles said the new building will still have an impressive presence.
“When you are on South Main Street looking north, you’ll see the portico projecting forward,” he said. “You’ll see those columns. The building will properly anchor Main Street from all directions, not just the south.”
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Change in Crestview courthouse plans raises historic board's concerns