MANSFIELD — A lot of interior improvement work is planned at the Richland County Courthouse over the next couple of years.
And the Richland County Board of Commissioners wants to have a video record of the progress.
Commissioners on Thursday approved a $9,900 contract with DRM Productions of Mansfield to produce a short video. Frequent filming will begin next week and continue for the next 2 1/4 years as the work is done throughout the five-story building.
The video will include the upcoming renovation of “L1” and the creation of new offices for the Richland County Land Bank, a new employee break room and an employee workout room.
It will include the planned creation of a fourth Common Pleas General Division courtroom in offices being vacated by the Clerk of Courts.
The video will feature photos from the construction of the new Clerk of Court’s office and grand jury meeting rooms nearly complete on “L2.”
It will also show the renovations of original bathrooms throughout the building, which was constructed in 1968.
Commissioner Tony Vero said the finished video, which would be two to three minutes in length, is a good way to show residents the investments being made into the building.
“I think it’s cool. We talk about government doing next level. I think it’d be pretty cool to show the public what’s been done with their building,” he said.
“I always say if you want government to act like a business … businesses have marketing departments, businesses release (information) and show people what they are doing,” he said.
“This is a pretty good price with two and a quarter years of filming and production. If you boil it down over three years, it’s less than $3,000 a year to capture something that’s pretty unique (and) to show off what we’ve done (with the building),” he said.
Commissioner Cliff Mears agreed.
“I think we would be remiss if we didn’t show the public what we’re doing for them,” he said.
Vero said, “And when it’s all done, we will release the video to the public and show them (building improvements) that have been done without borrowing money.”
