ROCK ISLAND, Illinois-- In a 15 to 7 vote the Rock Island County Board approved an agreement to say goodbye to the old courthouse Tuesday, July 17.
I am extremely disappointed… Many people who come over the bridge the first thing they see is the county courthouse. When you go into any city the courthouse kind of stands there as the pride of the community,” says Diann Moore from the Moline Preservation Society.
The intergovernmental agreement approved Tuesday night will allow the public building commission to oversee demolition and replace the old courthouse with greenspace.
The commission set aside $1.6 million for the project from funds used to build the new justice center.
RICO board members say there are still a lot of unanswered questions in the approved plan, for example board members say they do not know where to relocate the county recorders office once the building is demolished.
The plan also does not provide a safety net if the project goes over budget.
"Why would we get rid of a building that we know can hold the records and go a head and try to figure out what we can get together and we dont even know how much (the project) would cost," says board member Cecilia O'Brien.
The new Rock Island County Administrator is now tasked with finding an alternative for the recorder's office before the courthouse demolition, which is expected to start sometime in 2019.
