The former site of the Bartholomew County Highway Garage will soon become the property of the city of Columbus.
A letter of intent has been signed by the Bartholomew County commissioners to sell the 6-acres facility to the Columbus Redevelopment Commission for $1.075 million. The price is the average of two assessments of the land and buildings east of Gladstone Avenue, between State Street and Illinois Avenue, county Commissioner Carl Lienhoop said.
“Appraisals came in quite a bit higher than we anticipated,” commissioners’ Chairman Larry Kleinhenz said.
The letter of intent calls for closing the purchase within 90 days, and for both units of government to share in paying for closing costs, Lienhoop said.
Stipulations in the agreement state the county will continue to have access to the facility at 2452 State St., especially its salt and sand storage facilities, until Oct. 1, 2025. That should provide enough time to design and construct similar facilities at the new garage, located off East 25th Street east of Petersville.
DLZ Indiana, an engineering and consulting firm, will be paid $35,500 to guide the county through the bidding and permitting stage for the new structures, Kleinhenz said.
The agreement is a single contract that covers both the architectural design and the physical construction of the facility. What DLZ engineer Charlie Day calls “design-build construction” is intended to streamline the collaboration, communication and coordination processes.
The city has expressed on-and-off interest in purchasing the site since at least 2018. At that time, Kleinhenz say the city was considering several possible uses such as a bus terminal or storage facility.
While the Columbus Redevelopment Commission is not identifying any specific purpose at this time, city officials have said the property would be ideal for future development, specifically for an affordable or workforce housing development.
What was officially called the“Bartholomew County Highway and General Purpose building” was constructed in 1952. The original 182-foot-long structure was built by Repp and Mundt Construction of Columbus for $45,000.
A 2017 structural assessment concluded the facility is functionally obsolete with a cracked concrete floor, a faulty roof and an outdated electrical system.
During budget talks last week, Bartholomew County Council member Matt Miller asked the commissioners why they had not sought bids, adding he’s aware of a number of individuals interested in purchasing the property.
“We had other organizations look at it, but none of them wanted the whole property,” commissioner Tony London said. “They wanted parts of it. We didn’t feel comfortable splitting it up.”
If the property had been sold in bits and pieces, the commissioners might have found themselves being accused of favoritism in choosing buyers, Lienhoop said.
“This is the cleanest and easiest way for us to dispose of the facility,” Lienhoop said.
The commissioners have received some criticism for paying $399,154 for authorizing a new salt barn at the State Street location in 2016 – six years before the new garage in Petersville became operational.
But the salt barn had to be constructed to avoid large fines piling up from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, the commissioners said.
“For a number of years. we had our material (salt) outside, and the law says you can’t have it outside,” Kleinhenz said. “We felt we had to enclose it.”
“Look at it this way,” London said. “We’re helping the city. And the city is also part of the county.”
