ROCK ISLAND--- Rock Island County Board Chairman Ken Maranda presented the board with a plan Tuesday, March 27, to tear down the old courthouse.
The agreement is based on recommendations from an ad hoc committee tasked with finding an alternative use for the building, but it determined there was only one solution.
"There are no proposals at this point for anything other than razing the courthouse," says Rock Island Board member Scott Terry.
Renovating and repurposing the courthouse would start at $16 million, which is too costly for the County, says Terry.
Demolition would cost about $1.5 million.
Terry says he is confident the board will vote to tear down the courthouse in April.
“If there is a component of the board who chooses not to move forward next month, they have the plan before them. Everything that we need to move forward is present, everything is in place so I would say that if there is a component that holds us up, it would be incumbent upon them to tell us what direction to take from there," says Terry.
The next Rock Island County Board meeting is set for April 17.