Chicken Little told us the sky was falling. If Chicken Little took a tour around the Escambia County Courthouse, he would say the ceiling is falling.
We attended the walk-through with Escambia County Commission Chairman Raymond Wiggins, architects, engineers and contractors as they looked at the damage in the 60-year old building caused by leaking pipes and a leaking roof.
Over the past few weeks, we've received telephone calls from employees saying 'you need to get up her and look at this' as the ceiling fell in the county commission chambers, the probate office and down the hall ways. We had people send us pictures, we took some on our own. It's a mess.
We've talked with Commission Chairman Raymond Wiggins several times and to his credit he's not held back on the problems the commission faces. He's been upfront in telling us and others that the courthouse faces major issues that may include safety issues to employees and citizens the courthouse.
Wiggins was upfront about asbestos and mold issues when we first addressed this problem, we appreciate that. We've read about failing courthouses in other areas where the leaders didn't want to inform the public about potential dangers until those dangers 'leaked' out to the news media. This didn't happen here. Wiggins and the county commission has been upfront in acknowledging that there are potential health hazards in the old building.
At this point, we don't know which direction the commission will go in solving the problems and whether it will ever include a total renovation or building of a new courthouse.
We agree with Wiggins that the first step is to correct the most important issues where there is a potential for airborne asbestos to escape.
After correcting the critical needs to provide a safe environment for employees and visitors to the courthouse and plan needs to be developed for a long-term solution.
That may include building a new courthouse and our question to the public now is whether or not you would support such a plan. Let us know, we'll let them know.
