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AUGUSTA

Tenant may be moving into flatiron

If Crisis & Counseling Centers accepts city’s offer, new courthouse could be built

By Betty Adams badams@centralmaine.com
Staff Writer

AUGUSTA -- The city will invite Crisis & Counseling Centers, which has sought a new home for a year, to become the first tenant in the flatiron building.

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The flatiron building in Augusta is shown.

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If that proposal is accepted, then the city could see a new combined courthouse erected at 32 Winthrop St., currently headquarters of the counseling agency.

Mayor Roger Katz got the nod from city councilors Thursday to approach Lynn Duby, president and chief executive officer of Crisis & Counseling Centers, to discuss the potential move.

Katz outlined the problem for councilors. "Crisis & Counseling is in spot where the new courthouse needs to go," he said.

He said the state court system decided to erect a new $40 million courthouse on the site of Crisis & Counseling. That would allow the court to be annexed to the existing granite courthouse at Winthrop and State streets.

However, Crisis & Counseling, a mental health and substance abuse counseling agency, has been unable to locate suitable quarters near the center of Augusta, something Crisis & Counseling officials said is a top priority.

Katz said he, city staff and county officials have helped Crisis & Counseling in the housing search for more than a year. "The solution has proved elusive," Katz said.

That lack of success, in turn, is holding up the court's building plans.

"The problem now is the clock is ticking because the court system has authorization from the Legislature, and ... a new governor might not see it as such a high priority," Katz said. "(Court officials) are now saying if they can't find a solution to Crisis & Counseling, 'We might have to look elsewhere,' maybe at the Central Maine Commerce Center."

A year ago, Leigh Saufley, chief justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, said legislative leaders crafted a plan to fund acquisition of the Crisis & Counseling property and to erect a new courthouse that would be linked to the existing granite court building.

A new building would provide better security and house the combined functions of Augusta District Court, now located several blocks away on State Street, and Kennebec County Superior Court.

"I hear the court people saying, 'A month or two' and they're going to fish or cut bait," Katz said. "We'll go forward and commence discussions with Crisis & Counseling and keep the council posted."

Katz said gaining a tenant, possibly a long-term one, at the flatiron building offers potential benefits, including solving the problem of the city paying to keep up the vacant bulding. "The flatiron building is currently a drain on the city's resources," he said.

At 32 Winthrop St., Crisis & Counseling has a 41,000-square-foot building on three floors, including a tunnel connection to the former home of The Copy Center at 27 Court St.

"We don't even have an indication they want to pursue this," Katz cautioned councilors.

Betty Adams -- 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com