County OKs bid to finish courthouse annex

County Commissioners accepted a bid by a Bridgeport construction company to finish out the County Annex that will house several County departments. The approximately $911,000 cost of the project came from federal COVID funds. It will take about 230 days to finish the project, according to the County’s contract with Mann Made Construction.

Construction was set to begin in late December or early January, Commissioner Jimmy Wiley said.

The new facility will house the offices of the County Tax Assessor, Veterans Affairs, and the Elections Administrator, and will include a large public meeting space that can handle early voting, Judge Win Graham said. It also will include storage space, he said.

The Commissioners voted in May to move ahead with the project to give the county more office and storage space for its expanding staff. The County had traded a plot of land beside the Young County Courthouse to the Graham Community Foundation for the Graham Leader building at 417 Second St. and an adjacent house at 403 Second St.

County volunteer fire departments will use the Second Street house in a training exercise on Dec. 9, after which it will be torn down to make way for a parking lot, Judge Graham said.