Starkville May See Downtown Municipal Complex

The Starkville Board of Aldermen voted unanimously in favor of a resolution to study the feasibility of building the new justice complex downtown. For anyone not familiar with the municipal justice complex debate in Starkville, the former Board of Aldermen voted 2 years ago to pursue a plan which put the new $5 million building on the bypass near Wal-Mart. Over 2,000 local citizens signed a petition spearheaded by current Mayor Dan Camp to prevent the construction on the bypass but many of the signatures were struck from the petition by city leaders for various reasons. Even after the strong opposition by citizens, the Board refused to reconsider their position and many people have speculated that this led to the defeat of the former aldermen in June's election.

According to the Starkville Daily News article:

Starkville aldermen voted Tuesday to move forward in creating a possible plan for a downtown municipal justice complex that incorporates new offices for the city's Electric Department into the mix.

The board, in a unanimous 6-0 vote, also authorized Mayor Dan Camp to pursue development of complete proposal for the project, including full schematic drawings for facility, a landscape plan, detailed cost estimates and a timeline/strategy for acquiring the 10 parcels of land that comprise the property.

The property in question is known as Block 18A on city plat maps. The complex, if constructed there, would be located on an entire city block surrounded by Highway 182 to the north, Lafayette Street and Douglas Conner Drive to the east and west, respectively, and Jefferson Street to the south.

A sketch of the building shows that it is a modified version of the justice complex facility that had been proposed on a site fronting the new Highway 25 bypass south of Highway 12 - a site that generated much controversy in the community in the last two years and resulted in a petition drive for a referendum on the project funding.

The new complex proposal locates the Police Department and Municipal Court on opposite ends of the building with the Electric Department located in the center.

The main entrance to the building would face Lafayette Street.

Architect Gary Shafer, who presented initial renderings and possible costs to the aldermen Tuesday, and Camp said initial financial estimates for the project place the total cost at around $8.4 million.

In my opinion, it is in Starkville's best interest to build the new complex downtown. Even if the pricetag is larger than building it on the bypass, their are multiple side effects of downtown revitalization, including aesthetics and additional business for downtown merchants by those using the complex. I know that there are many people who wanted it on the bypass because they believe that the Starkville Police Department deserves a new facility as soon as possible. It is my hope that these people will get behind and support the downtown plan so that it can become a reality in the near future.

Here is a plan devised my graduate students in one of Professor Pete Melby's classes. The Melby Plan, as it has been termed, puts great emphasis on the downtown area including the addition of residential properties, bike lanes, parks, and museums. (Click on the picture to zoom in.) The reason that I included it here is because the plan also called for a downtown municipal complex. Tuesday night, the Board also approved a plan which establishes a bike lane on University Drive from the entrance to MSU's campus all the way to Main Street. Although the plan will displace around 50 parking places on University Drive, hopefully it will encourage more bike and pedestrian traffic throughout this main corridor of Starkville. The bike path was also an element of the Melby plan.