This week, Clark County administrators took a preview tour of the building to see the changes thus far. Nearly every room is down to its bare bones.
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“I can tell where the money is going to be quite honest,” said Clark County Commissioner Lowell McGlothin.
McGlothin said in the county’s communication with Kapp Construction, Inc. the renovations on the over 100-year-old building are running smoothly.
He said due to the age of the building, there have been some minor hiccups but nothing that would push back the expected completion date or bust the budget significantly.
Prior to the renovation, county staff who worked in A.B. Graham said many of their offices were unheated — many of them were strictly using space heaters.
There were also amenities in the building that were outdated or non-complaint with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Although much of the transformation involves ripping out a majority of the aging interior and re-configuring office spaces, several of the iconic architectural details have been saved, including the the brass staircase, the marble walls and stairs, the woodworking and several of the county office doors.
The exterior of the building was previously updated with new windows and a repaired roof.
“It’s wonderful to save an old building and renovate it and make it so it has a new purpose,” McGlothin said.
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The A.B. Graham building, which is named after the founder of 4-H, is home to four county offices — the treasurer, the auditor, the recorder, the tax maps department, as well as the Clark County Common Pleas Court Domestic Relations Court.
The county offices and their 75 employees were temporarily relocated to the Bushnell Building at 14 E. Main Street, and people should go there to take care of any county business including paying property taxes until the renovations are completed.
McGlothin said the transition to the new space was virtually seamless, but he believes employees are anxious to get back to A.B. Graham once its face-lift is complete.
The Domestic Relations Court has been moved to Clark County Juvenile Court, which is across the street from the A.B. Graham Building.
Reconstruction started in Sept. 2019, and the project is expected to wrap up by the fall of this year.
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