That same day, Greene County Commissioners approved changes to their long-term planning documents that will eventually determine what’s built in its place.
In November 2024, the county commission adopted a long-term planning document that at the time called for $153 million in construction over the next two decades that would consolidate much of the county’s operations on two of its three Xenia campuses.
At the time, several Greene County judges raised concerns about the county’s plans to build a new $23 million courthouse where the former Greenewood Manor was located, as well as the plan to turn the historic county courthouse into a museum.
The judges were also concerned that having all courts in the same building meant juvenile offenders would run the risk of interacting with adult probationers, which Judge Adolfo Tornichio said Thursday would have been “a bad recipe.”
“What the commissioners did today reassures the citizens of Greene County that justice will be in the center of the town, and it’ll remain at 45 N. Detroit St. as the general division courthouse, and we’re excited about that,” Tornichio said.
The two major changes to the planning document involve keeping the general division judges in the Greene County courthouse - rather than turning it into a museum and archive - and instead creating a new “Family Services Center” at that west campus, housing Job and Family Services, Family and Children First, Domestic Relations Court and Probate Court.
Secondly, the downtown Xenia campus - to be built where the old jail, Sheriff’s office and county administration are now - would house the Prosecutor’s Office, Development, Veterans Services, Administration, Archives, Building Regulations, and most other county functions.
The Juvenile Court, County Engineer and other west campus offices would stay put and receive renovations to their facilities.
Commissioner Dick Gould credited Domestic Relations Judge Cynthia Martin for the Family Services Center idea, adding that the concept inherently improves security for Job and Family Services and other child-focused county operations.
“I applaud all the players involved for thinking outside the box and coming up with a truly win-win for the county, the judiciary and the city,” he said.
The updates also shave off about $8 million of the construction price tag, down to about $145 million, said County Administrator Brandon Huddleson, adding that while the Family Services Center would cost about $5 million more to accomplish this, the changes reduce the cost of the downtown campus by about $11 million.
When will any of this be built? As of right now, the county is still years out from even planning any of these projects, Gould said. The county has repeatedly emphasized that the master plan is a “living document.”
“When we say ‘start,’ it doesn’t mean ‘shovel in the ground,’ it’s ‘paper to pencil,’” Gould said. “Until there’s surety of what the future holds, we can’t make a decision to spend big dollars.”
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
Contractor Rauch Inc. is being paid $989,550 for asbestos abatement, demolition and site restoration for both the old jail site and the former sheriff’s administration offices, located at both 77 and 105 E. Market St. in Xenia, respectively.
The portion of Whiteman Street between East Market and East Main Streets will be closed for the duration of demolition.
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