The Courtyard Square building will be demolished because of “utility problems,” with some tenants to be transferred to the old cotton warehouse on Bradley Street in downtown Carrollton and others to be located behind the jail on Newnan Street, according to Commission Chairman Bill Chappell.

Prior to the Board of Commissioners retreat Saturday, none of the commissioners knew the building would have to come down, though some had heard unofficial speculation.

Chappell assured them Saturday that the Courtyard building would pose problems with sewage delivery to the new justice center. He cited the fact that the building has had major water and sewage problems in the past, with “water running down the walls when it rained” and “sewage floods.”

Tenants will have to be out of the building by the week of March 22, and the following week it will be torn down and converted to a small park.

Those who are interested will have the option of relocating to the old cotton warehouse on Bradley Street. Roughly a year ago, the board discussed tearing down the cotton warehouse but such a move never gained much traction.

“I’m sure glad we didn’t,” Chappell said.

Other offices, including the magistrate court, have already been moved behind the jail.

The warehouse is now being hastily converted to a temporary office space, with work done primarily by inmate laborers. A ceiling has already been constructed and efforts are under way to partition off portions of the space and provide the building with heat and air conditioning.

Because most of the work is coming from in-house labor, estimated construction costs are $25,000 to $30,000. Though the county owns the building now, it will revert to city ownership in the upcoming months, and the county will lease it for $1 a month, Chappell said. Once the justice center is complete several years down the line, all county offices will move from the warehouse to the new center. At that time, the city may convert the warehouse building to a museum.

It’s unclear how much the Courtyard demo will cost. The work will be placed out for bid in the upcoming weeks, at which time more will be known about its cost.

Work on the 313-spot parking garage on land adjacent to the building has been delayed as a result. It will likely start immediately after the demolition and the clearing of the land and should be completed by late summer.

Less is known about the final plans for the justice center, as even the building’s footprint is “still up in the air,” Chappell said. The board will have final say on architectural plans once they are finalized. Before construction begins, a citizens advisory panel will meet to give feedback on the aesthetics of the building, including paint colors and fixtures.

“We get one chance to do this,” Chappell said. “We need to do it right.”