County site for new courthouse must be vacated by Oct. 31

By Ray Gronberg

gronberg@heraldsun.com; 419-6648

DURHAM -- County Commissioners have given the owners of the Scarborough & Hargett Funeral Home one last two-month extension to the lease of their quarters along South Mangum Street.

The unanimous vote gives owners Queen and J.C. "Skeepie" Scarborough until Oct. 31 to move the business to new quarters, even if on a temporary basis.

The county holds title to the funeral home thanks to an eminent-domain condemnation. Officials intend to make the site part of the new courthouse complex.

County Manager Mike Ruffin said officials are on a tight timetable because they could save millions of dollars if they get the courthouse project out to bids this winter in the midst of the recession.

"Fortunately for us, the construction market appears to be very hungry," Ruffin said, telling commissioners that eight large firms had attended a preliminary conference about the courthouse project and that up to 16 may actually file bids.

The Scarboroughs wanted an extension that ran until Nov. 30. They've planned on moving their business to new quarters in the UDI Industrial Park.

But work there has stalled, the result, J.C. Scarborough has said, of the discovery of bad soils and other problems at the site.

County Engineer Glen Whisler said the UDI site has "remained inactive" since October 2008. The new building's slab and part of its framing are the only things standing there.

The Scarboroughs have look at several sites as a possible temporary quarters, including a house they own on Fayetteville Street and the Carolina Times building near downtown.

But they've settled on a building near the corner of South Mangum Street and Jackie Robinson Drive that formerly housed the Elkins Mitsubishi dealership.

Their architect, former County Manager George Williams, said earlier this month that preparations to convert the building are under way. Among other things, they've gotten permission from city/county planners to use the building as a funeral home instead of as a car dealership.

J.C. Scarborough told officials earlier this month the additional month would give his family the time it needs to renovate the old dealership.

The family's request drew support from two City Council candidates, Donald Hughes and Darius Little, and the chairwoman of the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People, Lavonia Allison.

Allison urged commissioners to do "whatever you all can do to facilitate making it possible for [the Scarboroughs] to move forward aggressively to have the kind of facility we've all been proud of in Durham County."

Ruffin, however, said officials need to take control of the current funeral home as soon as possible because the building has asbestos in it that have to be removed before it's demolished.

That job will take at least six weeks, and possibly longer, Ruffin said.

Commissioner Joe Bowser said he'd "pushed very hard" for the Nov. 30 deadline. He acquiesced in giving the Scarboroughs until Oct 31, but added he hopes the two sides continue working together.

Officials anticipate sending the courthouse out for bids in October, awarding a contract Feb. 8 and giving contractors the green light to begin on March 1, Ruffin said.

Commissioners settled the matter after emerging from a 1¬