Single, secure entrance to Courthouse to be considered

The Anderson County Operations Committee met Monday using electronic means. Among the items on their agenda was a review of a presentation by local architect Bill Blankenship on a conceptual design for creating a single, secure entrance to the courthouse.

The design, according to a sketch provided by the Anderson County Courthouse Security Committee, would construct a completely new entrance on the northeast corner of the first floor of the courthouse on the Leinart Street side. The other, existing entrances would remain locked from the outside, but would continue to serve as alarmed emergency exits.
Funding for this project, if approved by the County Commission and others, would come from the state’s Local Support Grant program—funded through the federal CARES Act–which provides money for counties and municipalities for specific projects such as IT hardware upgrades, capital maintenance, utility system upgrades, road projects, public safety, and COVID-19 response.

Funding from the grant was allocated by population, and the Anderson County Government’s portion was $1,093,102.

Operations members forwarded the plans to the Courthouse Security and ADA committees for further review. The Courthouse Security Committee will meet on May 27th.