When Fulton

County built its new government administration building

back in the late '80s, observers quickly began using the

name "Taj Mahal."

It's a

huge, many-storied building with a great, airy atrium,

lots of marble and mahogany, and a $250,000 ornamental

staircase that serves no function whatsoever, except

perhaps as a piece of exercise equipment.

That

building is one of the main reasons, I feel certain, that

Fulton County Commission Chairman Michael Lomax was

ousted and replaced with conservative Mitch Skandalakis.

I lived in Fulton at the time, and my taxes tripled in

three years while county workers surrounded themselves

with luxury.

On the

other hand, there is something to be said for large,

beautiful, richly appointed government buildings. They

send a message that the people represented by the

government in question are successful, well educated and

sophisticated.

Should

government buildings be solid? Should they be built to

last for generations? Should they convey to visitors that

the people whose taxes are on display are not afraid to

make a statement?

Well, let's

not get too carried away. The jail/courthouse complex

planned by Fayette County is on a much smaller scale than

Fulton's. We're just talking 60 or 70 million dollars.

We're just talking three stories for the courthouse, and

a couple of single story pods tacked onto the jail.

That's it

for now. Ultimately, a county administrative office is

envisioned... probably two or three stories itself, maybe

an additional 30 or 40 million bucks.

Of course,

nobody's seen any architectural details yet. We don't

know for sure whether we're talking Taj Mahal or Walden

Pond.

But those

who watch over Fayetteville are concerned, because they

have been working hard to create a downtown that is a

combination of "Leave it to Beaver" and

"It's a Wonderful Life."

I've been

present when city officials have sent folks packing when

they wanted to put three- or four-story buildings

anywhere near downtown.

Now here

comes the county government wanting to do the same thing

and they can't do diddly about it.

Their

concern is understandable, and if county leaders decide

they must continue with the current plan, I fervently

hope they will sharpen their pencils and work with the

architects to scale the thing down as much as possible,

to make it fit in, to smooth off the hard edges and let

landscaping, rather than brick and mortar, be its most

defining feature.

County

commissioners have been criticized for not letting the

public in on their planning early on in the process, and

frankly they probably should have had a public hearing or

two before they picked a design for the complex and

settled on the size and scope of the project. A little

more thinking outside the box couldn't have hurt.

But I

honestly think that at this point, they have considered

the situation carefully and truly feel that the plan

they've arrived at is the best one for the county.

But Jan. 6,

they'll have a public hearing, and I believe they'll do

their best to set aside the work they've put in (and the

money they've spent) and honestly evaluate whether

they're being presented with good arguments for backing

off and taking another look.

As I said

in last week's column, they won't be swayed by emotional

arguments. If enlarging the county jail creates more

danger, reduces property values or will have a

significant impact on traffic, that's going to have to be

shown with hard facts, not emotional attacks.

But the

tougher question to pose to the commissioners, in my

opinion, is not whether their plan is an evil one that

will ruin Fayetteville. It's whether there might be a

better plan for Fayetteville and all of Fayette.

Would the

county be just as well served by putting a jail annex out

in the country somewhere? The point is well taken that

the danger of escape is increased by having to transport

prisoners to court, but the plan is to put nonviolent

inmates in the new pods, isn't it? Is it really all that

important to put shoplifters and check bouncers downtown?

Some

residents have even suggested an old-fashioned work camp

approach, in which nonviolent inmates could farm their

own food and work for their keep. That's exactly what was

done in Fayette County before the current jail was built.

Could the

60-odd acres of county property, so carefully assembled,

be sold for a nifty profit and used for a master-planned

private project in keeping with Fayetteville's dream for

downtown... then could the money from the sale be used to

buy property slightly farther from downtown that is more

suited to a heavy institutional/governmental complex?

I don't

have the answers to those questions, but I think they're

worthy of serious consideration. And with the future of

downtown Fayetteville at stake, slow deliberation is in

order.

We'll all

get a more detailed idea of how the county leaders

envision the project at the hearing Jan. 6.

Let's hope

that some sort of consensus can be arrived at (though

there will always be some who oppose the final outcome,

no matter what). In many ways, this project will define

the future of Fayette's county seat, and I would hate to

see such a momentous decision made without widespread

support.