Effective Monday, April 7, the front doors to the Richland County Administration building at 50 Park Ave. East will be closed until further notice due to construction. The public will have access through the east and west doors of the building, which will be open for everyone and will not require a swipe card for entry during the construction period starting April 7.
The Richland County Commissioners accepted a bid to renovate the vestibule in the courthouse in November 2013.
“What we’re looking to do on the front side of the courthouse is extending our vestibule, creating a security checkpoint for the building,” said Chuck Minich, building maintenance superintendent for the county in November. “Moving the vestibule out would give us the opportunity to put some scanning equipment into making this a (security) checkpoint for the building.”
Richland County Commissioner Ed Olson said the reasoning behind extending the security checkpoint out is to keep a potential problem out of the building.
“The idea is to take advantage of the airlock that’s now between the two doors,” said Olson in November. “By removing the outer front entrance and moving out on the portico, you’ll have less obstruction for foot traffic getting in and out of the building – especially if there’s an emergency and you have to evacuate.”
