ROCKDALE COUNTY, Ga. — Employees say a metro Atlanta courthouse is collapsing after voters vetoed construction of a new building.
Channel 2's Richard Elliot was at the Rockdale County Courthouse in Conyers, where chunks of concrete have fallen from the ceiling into employees' offices, leaving holes.
After voters rejected plans for a new courthouse, officials are putting a new roof on the old one, but employees say ripping off the old roof exposed even more problems.
Employees showed Elliot photos of holes in the ceiling that went straight up to the sky. Another showed him chunks of concrete the size of a bowling ball on an office floor.
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Rockdale County Clerk of Superior and State Courts, Ruth Wilson, is the one who discovered the fallen concrete.
"We've been kind of nervous, and now for this to happen, it's kind of upsetting," Wilson said.
She's not happy voters rejected building a new courthouse last spring, and now, officials are having to put Band-Aids on the old one.
"A time for what I can penny-pinching patchwork, that time has passed," Wilson said.
Oz Nesbitt, the county commission chairman, said he is glad no one was hurt by falling debris, but he hopes the damaged courtroom and offices will show voters just how badly they need a new building. It's not just because the building is falling apart.
"The facility we have now is more of a museum than it is a courthouse," Nesbitt said. "We've outgrown it in many ways."
Wilson said they are just asking voters to approve a safer space to work.
"We're not asking for the Taj Mahal, but we do want a place that is safe and clean and a decent place to work," Wilson said.
Rockdale County District Attorney Aisha Johnson emailed Elliot to say it's unreasonable to ask her employees to work in conditions that endanger their health and safety.
Rockdale County may get the chance to vote on a new building next year.
Cox Media Group
