AUBURN — A plan for modernizing Androscoggin County’s Civil War-era courthouse is getting a rewrite.

The reason is a price tag of $34 million and climbing.

A 123-page report to the County Commission detailed the aging building’s many flaws and possible changes including: the purchase of the YMCA property next door, additions and a multilevel parking garage. The recommendations ranged from $34.4 million to $36.8 million.

On Nov. 8, the three-member County Commission plans to meet with the plan’s authors, Ricci Greene Associates of Providence, R.I., and Auburn-based Harriman. The county hired the two firms at a total cost of $90,000.

The aim of the meeting is to scale back the plan and look for sources of money, including the state, Chairman Randall Greenwood said.

In part, the county can’t afford such an expensive project, he said.

“Honestly, I was expecting four or five million (dollars),” Greenwood said Monday. “When the $36 million number was rolled out, I was shocked. It was nearly 10 times what I thought it would cost.”

The discussion of money also led to talk about who would pay, particularly since the proposal would more than double the square footage used by the courts and the District Attorney’s Office. They would go from about 20 percent of the county building to 43 percent in one plan. Among the new amenities outlined is a second courtroom. Today, the law library doubles as a courtroom, when needed.

By statute, the county must supply court space and facilities, but not 43 percent of the building, Greenwood said. 

“To me, that is not acceptable,” he said.

Commissioner Jonathan LaBonte said he, too, believes the state will need to pay a share of the renovation and expansion.

“If they don’t have the appetite for it, they ought to move out and find another location,” he said.

However, he also worries that an expansion could create more space than the county really needs. Forecasts of staffing decades into the future are mere guesses, he said.

He pointed to nearby Auburn Hall, housing the city’s municipal government offices, as an example of overbuilding. There are too many empty offices there and they shouldn’t be competing with the private sector for possible renters, he said.

Either way, there is little argument over the need for changes.

Much of the lengthy report focuses on problems in the building, from the leaky roof and poor ventilation to corroded pipes and inaccessible bathrooms.

Both LaBonte and Greenwood believe the building must be preserved.

Greenwood talked about the building’s place on the National Register of Historic Places and the responsibility that comes with it.

“Certainly, we could rip the building down and build a new one that’s functional,” he said. Certainly, we could do it cheaper. But we’re talking about a building on the register.”

LaBonte, a history buff, talked about how the courthouse, not Auburn Hall, often represented the city on 19th century images. 

“There’s a reason that the Auburn Civil War monument sits in front of the county courthouse and not in front of Auburn Hall,” he said.

Any changes to the building will be at least a year away, Greenwood said.

Once a firm proposal takes shape, the project will likely require bonding and a referendum of the county’s voters.

dhartill@sunjournal.com