Gidding building schematic designs approved

Curry County Commissioners approved schematic designs for the 417 Gidding St. building presented by NCA Architects on Tuesday morning during their meeting at the Clovis-Carver Public Library.

Architect Robert Calvani, along with Jerry Morgan from SDV Construction, presented plans to the commission Tuesday after numerous revisions and meetings with county workers who will move offices to Gidding. Calvani said there is an April 2016 goal to complete the remodeling of 18,500 square feet, including a 6,000 square foot addtion on the building’s south side.

The estimated $3.7 million project includes a restroom in each office, additional storage space and a dedicated space for voting machines next to a loading dock.

“I’ve heard good comments from staff, other elected officials, that they’re looking forward to these updates,” Commissioner Wendell Bostwick said, “and I think it’ll make our county government a much more pleasant and easy place to access.”

The main entrance, Calvani said, will be on the east side of the building to utilize the larger parking area. An entrance on the west side of the building will remain, but only street parking will be available.

“I sound like a broken record to the architect and to (Curry County Manager Lance Pyle),” Morgan said. “With the exception of the main entry and the council chambers, it’s going to be a very simple building (in order) to meet this budget.

“It’s going to be a very functional, professional building, but to maintain this budget it’s going to be very important to understand what the needs are, and stick to the needs and not let the wants start creeping in and turn it into a Taj Mahal.”

Offices moving from the Curry County Courthouse into the Gidding Street building will be county administration, the county clerk, property assessor and county treasurer. There are also plans to include a county commission chamber. The post office plans to stay in the building throughout the remainder of its lease. Should the U.S. Postal Service vacate the building, Calvani said, the space could be used for future growth.

Renovation plans for the Curry County Courthouse, made possible by moving county offices, are still being analyzed by Dyron Murphy Architects.

Architects Nitish Suvarna and Don Dwore presented the commission with the status of the project, which requires approval from the State Historic Preservation Office.

“Basically, our job is to make a better courthouse out of the one that sits across the street from (the library),” Dwore said. “And to do that, to get four functional courtrooms, somehow, in that building, to straighten out the circulation paths so we don’t have prisoners running into judges and the public, is a difficult task.”

Dwore said plans cover “three very different ways” to accomplish those goals, and presentation would be soon. The architects have also met with the SHPO two times. Th SHPO’s concerns, he said, involve the entire building exterior, various interior and exterior materials, marble in the building and changes to the building’s staircase to allow for three standard floors.

The courthouse, Dwore said, encompasses 32,000 square feet of space and is on the National Register of Historic Places, and a New Mexico cultural affairs group is attempting to add the courthouse to the New Mexico Historic Places Register as well.

“Working with them sometimes is tricky, but it has to be done, and so we’ve set out to do that,” Dwore said. “There is no plan on earth that SHPO won’t be involved in; it’s just the nature of that building.”

Suvarna said the hope is to present conceptual plans to the public during the commission’s next meeting.