News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Renovations for Cumberland County’s Archives have been put on hold.
Mayor Allen Foster said the county commission failed to approve additional funding for the project after the $1.8 million bid came in over budget.
“Some commissioners think that we can rebid it in a few months and prices will be down,” Foster said. “Other ones think we have new funding from the federal government that are going to be used for building projects, and the prices are only going to increase. But, at this point I guess we will see.”
Foster said upgrades to the archives building is something he sees as a definite need. Foster said the county’s building and grounds committee are set to reevaluate the project at some point in the future.
“Basically, it would be removing the newer part of the building of the old church,” Foster said. “The front part is just a beautiful place to go in for researching and having classes. It would be removing the old part and basically building the new type of vaults necessary for keeping records. It would be two floors.”
The county’s archives are located inside an older church on East First Street. Foster said the newer addition of the building has drainage and leaking problems.
“The older original part of the building is in pretty good shape,” Foster said. “But, the newer part that was built sometime later but still a while ago is not in as good shape. There are leaky windows, roofing problems, guttering problems.”
Foster said about $1.6 million dollars has been allocated for the project. Foster said archiving documents is a requirement by the state, so it is something the county has to have.
