The county is thinking about building a new administrative building after renovations at the former Ringgold Telephone Co. facility hit a snag last week.

According to Catoosa County Manager J.D. Byrd, a leaky roof and possible termite damage has detoured renovations to the 16,000-square-foot building on Nashville Street, which the county bought for $575,000 last summer.

“We have found a lot of wood damage on the exterior of the building from water and maybe from termites,” Byrd said. “We do not know for sure. There is a lot of deteriorated wood from one source or the other, or both.

“The roof has leaks in it,” he said. “We are not prepared to go in the building and spend money to renovate the inside with these existing problems.”

Byrd said a new facility will cost about $100 per square foot to construct.

If the county builds a facility that is comparable in size to the existing one, estimated cost will be to the tune of about $1.6 million.

The county manager said a new building would take a year and a half to complete.

Commissioners voted unanimously July 22, 2003, to purchase the Ringgold Telephone Co. facility at 7449 Nashville Street to hopefully lower the county’s rental costs and alleviate space problems at the Courthouse.

According to county finance administrator Carl Henson, the county planned to spend $350,000 on interior renovations, plus $50,000 to pave a parking lot.

Byrd said the county is waiting on estimates from Edwards Construction, the low bidder for the renovations, on replacing the roof and the rotten wood “so we can determine if it would be more economical to tear the building down and build a new one on the same site or go ahead with what we are doing.”

Phil Erli, Ringgold Telephone Co. executive vice president, said he informed County Managers Ed Vickrey and Byrd that there were some problems with the roof of the more than 40-year-old building.

He said the company moved into the former Benny Jackson Chevrolet dealership in the early to mid-1970s, and as leaks in the roof showed up, the company fixed them.

“There was termite activity several years ago, and it was treated,” he said. “We were paying $88 a month for ongoing inspections and treatment for the termite activity.”

Catoosa Commissioner Mark Fletcher said the issue of purchasing the building originally came up in 2002 under former County Manager Mike Mahn, and a majority of commissioners were against pursuing it.

He said the issue came up again in 2003, and a decision was made in favor of the move. Fletcher said you can’t tell what problems may surface in a building’s integrity when it’s full of people.

“It might be something that could not have been seen unless it was empty,” he said.

Fletcher said that Ringgold Telephone Co. discounted the purchase price of the building from its actual appraisal value to benefit the county.

According to Erli, the deal not only included the building and land appraised at $783,000, but a $25,000 electronic marquee sign.

Byrd said Friday that initial discussions about purchasing the building pre-dated his association with the county.

“I really do not know what (former County Manager Ed Vickrey) did,” he said. “I have not seen any of the closing information. I do not know if they had a termite inspection or another appraisal done. I just don’t know.

“They might of thought there is some damage, but it may not cost as much as it is going to cost to correct the problems,” he said.

Commissioners will consider new options for the administration building at a meeting Aug. 17 at the Courthouse Annex