A detailed site evaluation has given the Perry County Board of Commissioners clear direction on the three “finalist” locations of a joint justice center. Mike Pollard and Annie Criddle of Dille Pollard Architects, which has been assisting the commission throughout the planning process, discussed the site evaluations at a Sept. 2 meeting.
The top three locations, after listening to input from elected officials and conducting a thorough 14-point ranking process, include:
• Site B - Highway 51 bypass across from the Bank of Missouri Soccer complex. This site is commonly referred to as the Rozier’s Property, as the owner, Rozier’s is willing to sell a portion of the property. Perry County Clerk Jared Kutz said the county is looking for four to six acres.
• Site E - This is the property located north of St. Joseph Street, west of Church Street and owned by St. Joe Properties and PSP Incorporated. The site is commonly referred to as the Emmendorfer property or Old St. Boniface and is approximately 6.65 acres. Additional properties on this block are for sale as well, according to Kutz.
• Site G - Highway 51 bypass across from the Elks Lodge. This is called the Pfaff property and is approximately 5.81 acres.
“I believe the sites themselves are more important than how the rendering of the building would sit on them,” Kutz said. “Once a site is selected and purchased, the commission will take into account the property and how a facility, including of our required space will fit on that property.”
Pollard and his group are preparing a PowerPoint presentation to go along with an informative handout about the findings of the specific locations for the future justice center.
“There were seven sites and after we did this survey amongst the people that are going to be housed inside, these were the top three they came up with,” said presiding commissioner Mike Sauer. “That should take a lot of question out of everybody’s mind.”