Dear Editor:
I have lived in Meeker for 38 years and taught at the Meeker Elementary School for 28 years. I just want to say that the design of the new Rio Blanco County Justice Center, especially the original school, is well designed to serve the public for many years to come with comfortable, spacious, well lit courtrooms and offices.
The original part of the school is making history again, not as an educational center for children but a safe, welcoming place where we can observe, participate in or get help to navigate the justice system.
Many regulations (safety, structural, materials, etc.) are required in repurposing of any historical building, especially one over 75 years old.
I feel the Justice Center design—both inside and outside—was nicely done and will serve the people of Rio Blanco County for years to come.
The dispatch employees and others working in the Rio Blanco County Sheriff’s Department have to be overjoyed with working in this building with windows and spacious rooms for offices and meetings.
The detention center has only the basics—food, clothes and shelter. There are no luxury items there, but superior safety features for the inmates, employees and the community.
I do feel sorry for the people who live behind the building who lost their view of Meeker, but I feel the unfenced, two-block commons area in front of the courthouse and Justice Center will bring many enjoyable activities for all ages to the downtown area.
Thanks, Rio Blanco County, for saving a part of our history, helping our local economy during the construction, staying within the budget, completing it on time, installing energy-efficient heating, cooling and lighting and restoring historic buildings to be used for future generations.
Janet Clark
Meeker
