Forest County is in the process of looking at what should be done with law enforcement and government offices on the courthouse campus.
Two proposals are being considered, one which keeps the current historic courthouse, the other which eliminates it. Three public meetings have been held to get input.
According to the Forest county website, requests for proposals are being considered within the next two weeks. One proposal would remove the courthouse, costing about $22 million, with a second option to keep and renovate the courthouse costing $25 million.
To get a perspective on what a courthouse means to a community, WXPR's Ken Krall talked with Jim Draeger, state Historic Preservation Officer at the Wisconsin Historical Society about courthouses and what they mean to a community...
The Forest County Courthouse has three main buildings: the original 1909 courthouse with additions at later dates, the social services building built in 1976, and the sheriff’s department and jail built in 1997.
