The Judicial Center’s Project Development Board (PDB) held its regular monthly meeting last Friday, December 16. Five board members were on hand.

Following some discussion, the board, on a motion by Jake Staton, seconded by Tracy Cross, voted to move the “closing date” to Friday, December 30. This is pending on titles to property being completed.

The board, again after some discussion, decided on the orientation, or basically “direction,” for the new Justice Center building to face north on the property it will be constructed on between Cross and Washington Street.

Apparently the project architect’s drawings had directed the front of the new facility to face the Kountry Kitchen restaurant (toward a southerly direction), which most board members did not approve of.

In late November, board members physically viewed the location of the site, which runs from McWhorter Variety Store to the north up to the former Ferguson Brothers and McWhorter Implement Buildings to the south, to attempt to see which direction to face the building would be more beneficial.

One idea was to “angle” the building northward toward The Fillin’ Station and Lay-Simpson Furniture, but at last Friday mornings meeting, the board decided to face the building directly north, facing what is now McWhorter’s Variety Store and Monticello Banking Company.

Apparently the majority of members felt that from that direction, the front of the new Justice Center, once completed, would be among the first things travelers coming into town from the north would see.

David Williams made a motion to move the “orientation” of the new facility to the north, which passed with one dissenting vote from Jesse Stockton.

The PDB also took another step to help keep the project going on schedule, as on a motion by Williams and seconded by Staton, they voted unanimously to have “all sellers remove all merchandise and everything before the closing”–which is now scheduled for December 30.

Following a motion and vote to approve disbursements since last month, the meeting was adjourned.

The next regular meeting of the Judicial Center’s Project Development Board is scheduled for Friday, January 20, at 8 a.m. in the upstairs courtroom of the courthouse and is open to the public.