New county courthouse among topics at State of the County address

Huntsville’s downtown square has always been centered by the Madison County Courthouse.

That will no longer be true once a site has been determined to build a new courthouse. And while the destination for the new building that will replace an outdated courthouse that was built in 1964 has not been decided, one thing is certain.

“It will be in downtown Huntsville,’’ Madison County Commission Chairman Dale Strong said at the State of the County address at the Von Braun Center South Hall. “ We’re looking at multiple options, but it will be downtown.’’

The current courthouse sits atop caverns that are part of nearby Big Spring. Strong said trying to pile drive into the surface for a new building is prohibitive, so the building will be razed.

Madison County Commission Chairman Dale Strong answers questions from the media following his State of the County address this week at the Von Braun Center South Hall.

Plans for the land once the building is gone have yet to be determined, but Strong has one suggestion: “It would be great to have a green space in downtown,’’ he said.

Strong added that the county commission would work closely with Mayor Tommy Battle and Downtown Huntsville, Inc., in finding a site and building the new courthouse. Keeping the courthouse in downtown Huntsville is the obvious choice.

“Ten years ago, we had a lot of boarded up buildings in downtown
Huntsville,’’ Strong said. “That is definitely not the case. It’s thriving. You look at the apartments, the living space, the eateries. This is something special with what we have in downtown Huntsville. We only want to make it better.’’

Renovating the current courthouse – which has no hot water, among its
faults, and with maintenance and energy costs rising yearly – would be too expensive. Chapman Sisson, the architectural firm that designed the Madison County Service Center at the corner of Oakwood Avenue and Memorial Parkway North, estimated renovations would run at least $60 million.

“Which doesn’t make business sense,’’ Strong said. “So we’re going to look at other options.’’ He added that he hopes to introduce a plan to the county commission in “the next few months.’’

Many offices that were previously housed at the courthouse – licensing, tax assessor and collector, board of registrars and probate judge – have relocated to the Madison County Service Center. Meanwhile, court caseloads are rising along with the county’s population boom and a new building would provide more courtroom space. An eighth judge – Patrick Tuten – was recently appointed to the 23rd Circuit by Governor kay Ivey.

“We’ve needed a lot of additional courtroom space,’’ Strong said. “We’ve added another judge, and we’re having to build a temporary courtroom right now. Our hope is that we can build something that will not only take care of what we need today but also the days ahead.’’

Strong said Madison County’s caseload per judge “still leads the state.’’

“But the 23rd Circuit has never used that as an excuse,’’ he added. “Our process works well. I wouldn’t swap where we live for anything.’’

Strong then moved on to discuss the recent environmental review of Huntsville for the relocation of Space Command. He said the U.S. General Accounting office and the Air Force completed reviews of the decision to move the Space Force command from Colorado to Redstone and that “we won it fair and square.’’ He cited quality of life, cost of living, short commute times, top notch schools, costs to build and maintain and because Redstone Arsenal leadership was “ready to make it happen’’ as reasons the command is
relocating.

“Hopefully, we can now shift the focus to where it needs to be – going
vertical on these facilities and standing up a new command as quickly and efficiently as possible,’’ Strong said.

Strong also mentioned various transportation projects. Deals struck between the federal government and that state include clearing up troubling spots on I-565, Highway 72 and University Drive and Highway 53.

Strong mentioned that representative support and coalition was a major factor in these recent achievements and advancements for Madison County. Representatives from Limestone County, Decatur, Athens, Scottsboro and Rogersville were among the guests at the luncheon.

“There is a common bond across North Alabama,’’ Strong said. “Local leaders have seen the value of working together as a region and know that when we stick together the sky truly is not the limit.’’

And, with support from Governor Ivey and numerous local and state colleges and universities, HudsonAlpha is building a new plant testing facility that will focus on researching genomes that will combat disease and lead to creating drought-resistant crops.

To conclude, Strong listed some of the successes he’s seen in 10 years as county chairman: More than 30,000 NEW jobs, diversified the economy through advanced manufacturing, secured building for transportation projects, an expanded sewer, protected drinking water, expanded hiking-bike path connectivity, brought rocket engine testing back to Redstone, built Toyota Field and Orion Amphitheater, greatly reduced unemployment and created better public education.

For Strong, these cases of recent success only further “position North Alabama not only for today, but also for generations to come’’ as the focal point of Alabama.