- March 2, 2025
The Flagler County Board of County Commissioners may transfer the historic Flagler County courthouse to the city of Bunnell in a vote scheduled for Nov. 18.
Commissioners discussed the transfer agreement at a workshop Nov. 4. The old courthouse has been empty since the Government Services Building on State Road 100 opened, and Commission Chairman Nate McLaughlin called the old building, which the county has been paying to maintain, a “$60,000 or $70,000 liability.”
Commissioner Barbara Revels expressed concern that the historic building might be modernized by Bunnell in ways that would degrade its historic value, and proposed adding language to the agreement to prohibit the city from making such changes.
McLaughlin and Commissioner Frank Meeker didn’t want to add any strings to the agreement, and said Bunnell was aware of the building’s historic significance.
“If you’re going to give it to them, give it to them,” Meeker said.
Revels said she was concerned about actions of future administrations that might not appreciate the building’s importance.
“Elected officials change, and you don’t know down the line that somebody’s not going to want to modernize that meeting room and rip it all out,” she said.
The agreement includes a provision that asks Bunnell to maintain the building’s historic façade, and Revels suggested adding wording that it is the commission’s “hope and intent” that the historic character of the building is maintained. The board agreed to add the wording to the agreement.
But Alan Peterson, a former county commissioner, spoke to urge the commission to reconsider the transfer.
“The building is not a liability. That building has value,” he said. “The county has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to maintain that building.”
Peterson said the courthouse had been paid for by 100% of the county’s residents and shouldn’t just be handed over to three percent. Flagler County could use the building as a meeting space for county organizations, he said, or rent it out or sell it.
“It makes no sense to me to call it a liability and give it away,” he said.
The commission took no action on the agreement at the workshop Monday. A vote is planned for the regular Flagler County Commission meeting that begins at 5 p.m. Nov. 18 at the Government Services Building at 1769 S.R. 100.
