During the remodeling project currently underway in the courthouse, asbestos was found – which will apparently require remediation. As part of that, it appears court offices will move into the new community center for six months or so while the asbestos is removed.

The issue will go before county commissioners at their Monday meeting to give their approval for the move, and putting court offices in the community center.

The move could begin as soon as Aug. 16.

It is expected to take five months for the absestos abatement and remodeling to take place.

The county commission had approved the $4 million remodeling project, which was to replace and improve plumbing and electrical in the building, the oldest part of which was constructed in 1948.

Officials with State Court Administration met with judges this week – Wakulla County Judge Jill Walker and Wakulla Circuit Judge N. Sanders Sauls – and got their approval for the move to the community center.

Clerk of Courts Brent Thurmond’s offices would also follow the judges.

The newly purchased community center, located on Shadeville Highway, is the former New Life Christian Fellowship church. It consists of two buildings – one of which, the former church, would be used as a large courtroom, while the other building, which was used for church offices and classrooms, would be used for offices for the clerk’s staff.

The asbestos had been known about for some time. But an analysis by consultants showed not one but three sources of asbestos in the building – including in the joints of the glass-brick windows.

Those windows are leaking and rusty and structurally problematic, Thurmond said. And it’s not simply a matter of of covering up the asbestos with carpet, as with the asbestos tiles in the building, or sealing the windows.

“It’s not a risk issue,” Thurmond said.

The original plan was for the abatement and remodeling to be done wing by wing in the old building, with sheets of plastic to keep down dust.

Now, he said, it appears that going ahead and doing the abatement for the entire building is a practical solution, given that it is possibel to move the courthouse staffs, in toto, to another facility.

It does cut down the time of the planned renovation from 10 months to five.

If it was just a matter of tiles, this would be an over-reaction, Thurmond said.

It’s not clear how much the move will cost, or who will pay for it.

The $4 million budgeted for the remodeling was the first stage of plans to renovate the courthouse – expanding the facility to include a third courtroom as well as a secure sallyport for transporting prisoners.

It’s also not clear what the additional cost of asbestos removal will amount to, or how it will be paid for.