Buying the existing building, commission saved over $330,000.00. Plus, we got more than double the storage space. The building was paid for with American Rescue Plan Act money meaning, no local tax dollars were used in the purchase. And a big plus, no waiting time for a new building to be built. The building already has two vaults which the court offices need for secure storage of evidence and sensitive records. It also has multiple, individual rooms where each department can have their own secure storage areas.

State law requires local governments to maintain many records for three, five, ten years and even some records have no expiration date and kept until end of time. Those records have been stored at various locations for years. The need for a centralized, secure storage facility was badly needed.

Elected officials and department heads are already moving records to the new building. Very soon, when the new moveable storage systems are installed, tens of thousands of documents will be moving to the new building from their temporary storage locations.

There seems to be some confusion about the building's use. This building will not be used for archive or historical records. The facility will not be occupied nor open to the public, but will only be used to store most active and required-to-be-kept county records. All records will still be available, as they have always been, through a "records request" of the appropriate departments. Archive or historical records are currently kept in the Loudon library. Someday, if needed, additional space could be added to the library for additional storage for archival or historical records.

The purchase of this building and solving the storage problem, that has existed for years, may well have been one of the best deals the county has ever achieved.

Interior Of The front Area Of The New Building