Indiana Landmarks aims to save county's historic old jail
TIPTON, Ind. (AP) - Indiana's largest historic preservation organization is open to putting its resources behind an effort to save Tipton County's old jail and sheriff's quarters.
Staff members of Indiana Landmarks attended Monday's Tipton County commissioners meeting, telling officials that they want to work with the county to find a new purpose for the old jail.
The Tipton County Sheriff's Department is currently transitioning to its new $16 million facility off of Ind. 28, just west of the city. That means the old jail will largely sit vacant and could deteriorate further. A 2014 study found the jail to be in relatively good shape and estimated restoration '“ including masonry work, new windows and doors, and fixing the roof and drainage problems '“ to cost up to $1.5 million.
That cost almost certainly has now increased since 2014. Demolition of the building was estimated at $500,000, but that's something both the local historical society and Indiana Landmarks wants to avoid.
'œWe'd like to find an alternative that keeps the building a part of the community but doesn't necessarily cost Tipton County anything going forward,'ť Mark Dollase, vice president of preservation services for Indiana Landmarks, said.
Dollase highlighted other old jail projects across the state the nonprofit has helped with, including the Boone County jail, which was turned into a restaurant complete with tables located in its jail cells, and the old Wabash County jail and sheriff's quarters, which Indiana Landmarks now owns and helped start the restoration process.
Tipton County's old jail is on the National Register of Historic Places - one of only two such sites in the county. That designation makes it eligible for various grants and other financial incentives such as tax credits.
'œWe believe it can be adaptively reused and that there's hopefully someone out there who wants to purchase the building and rehabilitate it and restore it,'ť said Joshua Biggs, community preservation specialist at Indiana Landmarks. 'œWe believe it (the old jail) is an integral part of Tipton's history.'ť
County Commissioner Jim Mullins said the board is open to meeting with Indiana Landmarks in a separate, special meeting sometime in the near future in which the nonprofit could go into detail on the different ways the old jail could be restored and reused. No action was taken by the board Monday.
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Source: Kokomo Tribune