The 1960s wing of the Chenango County office building is likely to see a major overhaul in the coming years as county officials contemplate renovation or complete demolition of the decades-old structure. (Photo by Shawn Magrath)

NORWICH – Chenango County Board members are taking preliminary steps in a long-term building expansion project that could see the razing of the 60-year-old wing at the county office building in Norwich.

The project, still in the early planning stage, includes the probable demolition of the decades-old structure to be replaced by a modern, more cohesive space to house county departments.

Though nothing is finalized, it hasn’t stopped the Chenango County Board of Supervisors from greenlighting purchase of a vacant private Academy Street property which borders the county office building’s west side. County officials passed a resolution approving the purchase earlier this month in hopes of avoiding building design and layout issues in the future, despite hesitation from City of Norwich representatives to remove another property from the tax rolls.

The purchase agreement is presently being viewed among attorneys.

The county is now considering its next step of hiring an engineering firm to explore the possibility of demolishing the 1960s wing of the county office building and constructing new while keeping the building’s 1990s wing addition.

“There’s some large ADA issues with renovating an old building like this. It might actually be more economical to start from scratch,” explained Chenango County Clerk RC Woodford. “The way the building was built, it could be gutted and reconfigured but at a tremendous cost.”

The current building faces a number of formational concerns, including asbestos in building materials and narrow spaces which make it difficult to keep ADA compliant. What’s more, the building exists in a floodplain that poses a danger to the county’s IT and networking hub on the ground floor.

“Even if everything moves along swimmingly, we might still be a couple years out from breaking ground on a new building,” Woodford said.

An overhaul of the county office building has been in the radar for years. Pre-planning began in 2019 but was put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic. With a better understanding now of the county’s financial footing, plans are back in motion.

The county’s currently exploring its financial options. Federal and state financial aid is likely to foot a chunk of new construction – nearly a third of which could become available through Medicaid simply by relocating the county’s department of social services administrative offices from their current home on the west side of Court Street. Early project estimates hover around $25 million total.

“These are just hypothetical numbers,” said County Treasurer William Crane. “We have to look at everything and once the data can be digested, then we can look at our options.”

Crane said an engineering request for proposal (RFP) to explore new construction would also be lumped together with a separate building proposal that would revamp the county’s highway department headquarters on Rexford Street in Norwich. Having the two projects lumped into the same RFP, he said, would streamline the process and cost taxpayers roughly $200,000 but still save money during this early planning stage.

“We want to spend public funds as best we can,” Crane added. “We thought it was well worth spending upwards of the $200,000 in a deliberate fashion to get some very good input.”

The county will consider its next plan of action upon seeing an engineering report. Officials hope to have one within the next four to six months.