The independent. [volume] (Elizabeth City, N.C.) 1908-1936, 1926-04-23
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
COST HALF A MILLION
But 1t Might Be Worth Every Cent 1t Cost If
Plans of Chairman w. r. Love Were
Carried Out

Pasquotank County has got
to build a new court house and
jail. That fact is settled. And
it is going to cost Pasquotank
something like a half million
dollars if it builds according to
the ideas of w. T. Love, chair
man of the Board of County
Commissioners.
But if it builds according to the
ideas of Chairman Love the county
will have courthouse Of which Its
citizens will be proud for decades
TO come; Elizabeth City will have
public park and recreational CEN
ter surprising anything in Eastern
North Carolina; and the parking
and traffic problem in Elizabeth
City will be solved for many ye1rs.
All these things are included in
Chairman Loves plan for the coun.
ty to abandon its present site ON
Main Street and acquire the six
, acres bounded by So. Road st.,
Lawrence st., Martin st. and the
tracks Of the Suffolk & Carolina
Rail Road. -.-.-,,.a-
On the six acres Of ground, with.
! in pistol shot OF the present court
hOuse, Chairman Love would locate
Il new and modern courthouse and
such n courthouse rs the county's
business now requires would cost
upwards Of $400.OOO.
He would set that courthouse vel
back from the street, retaining the
wonderful grove Of trees and shrub
berry on that part Of the tract known
az the Overman homestead.
On the North Of the property,
rgralelling Church St., Chairman
Love would create a paved parking
space 100 feet wide by 600 feet long
to take care Of the yexing trAffic
problem and provide all country Pep
pie who come to town ample parking
space for their automobiles, fof
years to come. The distance from
Road st. to Martin st. Is 30 feet.
! ResnodIing Old Courthouse Not
Practicable
! Pasquotank must build new
courthouse and Jail, or remodel Its
present courthouse. Plans for re-
modelling the old courthouse have
! heen submitted by ut least two
architects and it il evident that any
sors of all adequate 'remodeHngi, Job
EAill cost $l3O.OOO to $500. .008. And
lit would he only II inakesMot; JOB at
Iithat. .., iiai !,
! To tear down the present conrt-
Ehouse and. build anew on the present
Esfte would be- utterly inipracticable.
1t would be cheaper in every way to
acquire a new site and dispose OF
the Main St. site for business pur-
poses. That block on Main st. to-
day is easily worth 100000. With
the building Of a modern fireproof
hotel nearby and the contemplated
improvements in the Carolina Bank
Building. the value Of the present
courthouse property for business
purposes will I've greatly enhanced.
Present Vaults Not Firepdpof
This newspaper pointed out
several years ago that Pasquotank
i had outgrown its courthouse. Even
J its vaults are inadequate for Its
records. Those vaults are not fire
proof vaults. And the courthouse
itself Is veritable fire trap.
The present courthouse was built
A years ago. 1t was adequate Tor
thei county business Of those days,
bIt its builders could not have con.
terminated the demands of modern
times. The offices Of the Clerk OF
the Court and the Register Of Deecs
long ago outgrew their quarters.
Many county offices to-day are hous-
ed in other buildings. There Is n"
room in the courthouse for tt
County superintendent Of Publ
Instruction no room for the Count,
I Farm Demonstration and Hon
Demonstration offices. And ther:
will he no room for its health dc
: p.rtment when the county wakes VI
and employs n whole time health Of
ficer and a visiting nurse.
Something Must Be Done
There isn't even room in the old
courthouse for court purposes. When
grand juries meet the County, High.
way Commission has to vacate fti
offices to make room for the jury
The court room itself is altogether
inadequate.
Something has got to be done OF
some Superior Court Judge is going
to carry out the threat Of Judge
Grady and indict every member of
tha Board Of Commissioners. Some
thing has got to be done, but 1t ia
going TO cost a tidy sum Of money
Concluded on page Eight)
va s,roiu causos wasted re