By David A. Farrell, Item Staff Writer
The Picayune Item
PICAYUNE —
U.S. Senator Roger Wicker will be the keynote speaker on Thursday at 4 p.m., as Pearl River County officials dedicate with a ribbon cutting and open house the new Chimney Square county office complex on Goodyear Boulevard.
The new $4.7 million, two-story, 24,000-squard-foot complex stands in the southwest corner of Kirkwood Street and Goodyear Boulevard, diagonally across from the school administrative complex and auditorium and across the street from the library.
Congressman Gene Taylor has been invited but had not confirmed by Tuesday, said County Administrator Adrain Lumpkin, Jr.
Also attending will be supervisors Anthony Hales, Hudson Holliday, Sandy Kane Smith, Patrick Lee and Joyce Culpepper.
In addition, Picayune city officials will be in attendance, the mayor, city council and city manager Harvey Miller.
Most county officials, who have offices in the complex, such as Chancery Court Clerk David Earl Johnson, Circuit Court Clerk Vickie Hariel and Sheriff David Allison also will be present.
County planning and development has offices in the complex. Picayune Mayor Ed Pinero, Jr., is the county planning and development director, and will maintain offices in both Poplarville and Picayune.
Some state officials are expected to attend, also.
Lumpkin, during a preliminary tour of the facility early this week, said it was a facility county citizens “can be proud of, and will help make county government and the delivery of services more efficient.”
County workers were in the process of moving in this week, and the building will actually open for service to county customers on Tuesday at 8 a.m. Regular county office times for agencies that will locate in the building will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, said Lumpkin. County offices will be closed on Labor Day, which is Monday.
After dedication services are held, those attending will be able to tour the facility and refreshments will be available.
What makes the facility even more attractive is that it was paid for with grants from the Mississippi Development Authority and FEMA.
JH&H Architects of Jackson designed the building using input from county officials and department heads, and Jay Van Co. of Hattiesburg was the contractor on the project.
On the west end of the first floor is the county tax office, complete with a drive-up window where you can purchase your car tag and do business if your paperwork is in order, said Lumpkin.
Next, moving east is an office complex for the county coroner, and in the middle of the complex is county planning and development, which will house 911 addressing and building permits.
The east end of the building will hold the offices of the Mississippi Highway Patrol’s drivers’ license bureau.
There is a shared conference room on the first floor for departments to use, if needed.
The building has stairwells to the second floor and in the main lobby is an elevator.
The second floor is the most impressive of the complex where two courtrooms, one for chancery and one for circuit, are installed.
One of the courtrooms also will be used by the county court system, which is a new court system comes into being in January. The new court is mandated by state law because the county population has exceeded 50,000.
The county court will meet each day, and is expected to clear out backlogs in the court system.
The second floor also contains administrative office space for both the chancery, circuit and county court systems. Trials and cases can be heard in the courtrooms here if all parties to a suit agree upon the location.
The circuit courtroom has a jury box and a jury conference deliberating room.
Also on the second floor are offices for the sheriff’s department, the DA and the public defender. Also there is a major conference room for court officials and other offices as needed. The floor also contains judges conference offices.
Justice Court will continue to meet at Millard, and new offices for that court system will be housed in the new DHS building being constructed near the Millard jail complex.
