Win-Win-Win Situation On Old Jail Sale

By Sarah Stevens

The future of Lancaster's
historic old jail seems to be
bright. Discussions between
the fiscal court, city council
and First Southern National
Bank appear to be leading to
a win-win-win situation.

The county is the current
owner of the jail but due to
their current financial situation
they are unable to keep it
up.

The fiscal court met this
past Saturday to discuss
plans for the property. They
opened the floor for public
comments during which only
two people came forward.

In the end the fiscal court
entered an executive session
and after just a few minutes
of considering the comments,
they returned with a
decision to transfer the jail to
The City of Lancaster.

Based on concerns raised
by Frankie Hurt they also
decided to create an additional
condition that requires that
the jail may not be moved
from its current location and
that it may not be demolished.

Hurt had expressed his
concern that no provision
had yet been made to ensure
that the future owner would
not move the building to
another street.

“That's part of the history
of this town,” he said
A full list of conditions
now requires that the jail
cells can not be removed, at
least $50,000 of improve-ments
must be made on the
building and renovations
should begin no later than
365 days from June 14, 2008.

It also must always be kept in
a reasonable state of repair, it
must be available to the public
and any change made to
the exterior must consider the
historical value of the jail and
surrounding properties.

In addition the county will
have the first right of refusal to
purchase the building if it is
ever sold, it can never be used
for residential purposes and the
jail may not be removed from
its current location or demolished.

“We want to make sure that
it is preserved and is a bright
spot in our city,” Judge
Executive John Wilson said.
“This is in the interest of the
county. Right now the jail is an
underused asset of the county,”
he added.

Hurt also questioned why
the county could not make
budget cuts in order to be able
to maintain ownership and
upkeep of the property.
“We're operating pretty lean
right now,” Wilson said in
response.

Pete Arnold was the second
member of the public to speak.
He told an animated story
about an inmate attempting to
escape when Arnold's father
used to work at the jail. He said
that the jail should be appreciated
because of stories like
these.

The city council will meet on
July 7 to discuss whether or not
they will accept the jail. If
accepted a deal with First
Southern National Bank may
soon follow.

Through land transfers
FSNB would acquire both the
jail and city hall. In return the
city would get the old
Chevrolet garage.

If FSNB does obtain both
properties they plan to demolish
city hall in order to build a
new branch bank. They need
both properties in order to use
the land space behind the jail as
additional room for the branch.
It is also important to them that
the new building suits the town
and not be a “sore thumb.”

The new branch bank and the
jail building would not connect.
No part of the jail would be
demolished in any way to make
additional room for the branch.

The bank is willing to
comply with the conditions
for the jail set forth by the
fiscal court. They plan to
restore the jail and create
some office space that can be
leased to a business owner.

They also want to insure that
the historical part would be
open to the public.

If everything were to go as
FSNB hopes, the county will
be free from the pressure of
maintaining the jail. The city
would receive the old
Chevrolet garage property to
build a new facility to house
heavy equipment and the
bank would be able to create
a new branch, maintain a historic
property and create
office space they could lease.

“A combination of everything
happening is really
going to enhance the city,”
First Southern’s Business
Development Officer
McKinley Dailey added.