HERMANN — Putting an elevator inside the Gasconade County courthouse is prompting the County Commission to find a new location to conduct its business each week.

The location of the elevator — just to the east of the southside entrance to the courthouse — will have a domino effect of sorts by taking away critical storage space for the County Clerk’s Office, which, in turn, will take away space in the Commission Chamber, situated between the clerk’s offices and its store room. That storage area houses, among other things, election equipment and supplies that require a secure space. The Commission has agreed to give up its chamber for storage of the clerk’s office items. That means the Commission will need to find another site for its weekly sessions.

Presiding Commissioner Tim Schulte, R-Hermann, noted last week that he has discussed with Circuit Court Associate Judge Ada Brehe-Krueger the use of the Division 4 courtroom — directly across the hall from the Commission Chamber — as a place for county administrators to meet. A decision on that option has not been made.

Another option for the Commission would be a second-floor room directly across the hall from the Gasconade County Sheriff’s Department office. But that room is used regularly by the sheriff’s agency for interviews, booking and fingerprinting activity.

A third option might be using the county’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in the basement for the sessions. However, the workspace of Emergency Management Director Clyde Zelch will be affected, also, by the elevator installation, which will have the lift using all three levels of the historic building. Just how much of the EOC space will be taken up by the elevator is unclear. Although it’s likely the construction — estimated to take between 60 to 90 days — would involve a commotion that would not be conducive to holding Commission meetings.

The elevator is being financed with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, as is other work planned for the courthouse. Initial estimates of all the work — which does not include construction of three buildings or additions to the county’s Sheriff’s Department site in Swiss and the Road Department in Drake — put the price tag at about $2.1 million. The county has about $2.4 million of ARPA funds in the bank.

Final cost figures have not been determined; the elevator work has yet to be put out for bid by county government. After a contractor has been selected, a start date will be set for the project.

In other matters at last week’s session in Hermann, the Commission was greeted with a less-definite date for the arrival of the new doors for the courthouse.

“I changed it from a (specific) date to a question mark,” said County Clerk Lesa Lietzow, who has new projected arrival dates, provided by the contractor, regularly for the past several months. The new doors — equipped with an automatic opening device aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19 — was ordered more than two years ago at the height of the coronavirus pandemic and was paid for with CARES Act money, the first round of federal dollars allocated to local governments to deal with costs associated with the pandemic.

The new doors, being crafted by a Montgomery County woodworking company, has fallen victim to repeated delays, mostly associated with the pandemic — from supply-chain issues to the manufacturer not being able to find the appropriate glass to the producer himself being sidelined by the virus.

When the new doors are installed, the main entrance will be closed for a week with courthouse staff and visitors entering the building through the single door on the north side. The Sheriff’s Department will move its metal detector to the south entrance for the duration of the installation of the new doors.