City rents Carmike building to house officials displaced by Government Center flooding

As the city deals with the aftermath of two floods that have crippled parts of the Columbus Government Center, some displaced court personnel have been moved to temporary offices in the former Carmike corporate headquarters, officials confirmed Tuesday.

The judges and staff who have moved to the Carmike building, which is three blocks north of the Government Center, are not being identified because of security issues. The Muscogee County Sheriff's Office is responsible for Government Center and court security and they have now began securing the area inside the Carmike building where court personnel are housed. The court personnel started moving into the new building on Monday.

"Moving into the Carmike building was a good decision," Maj. Mike Massey said on Tuesday. "That building was already set up for security and there was security in place. With the addition of armed officers, we will be able to secure it."

There was a key card system in place, which was helpful, he said.

The space will be used only for offices and administrative purposes, Massey said. There will be no court proceedings or hearings in the building.

"The only people who will be able to visit are attorneys and other judges," Massey said. "We have asked them if they need to meet with others to do it in the Government Center."

The move was necessitated by two separate pipe breaks that caused water damage from the second floor to the 11th floor.

Early on June 18, a 12th-floor water main feeding the boiler broke and dumped about 36,000 gallons of water into the building, leaving courtrooms and other offices on floors 11, 10 and nine significantly damaged. The water damage went all the way down to the fifth floor.

The most recent flooding happened June 30 following repair work by the city maintenance staff on a fourth-floor toilet, according to an email that Hugley sent Columbus councilors and those impacted by the situation.

The city has filed two insurance claims with its insurance carrier, Travelers, Deputy City Manager Pam Hodge said on Tuesday. Those claims are currently being processed, Hodge said. The city has a $50,000 deductible, Mayor Teresa Tomlinson has previously said. Though there are no damage estimates yet, Hodge said, the claim will likely be much higher than the deductible.

And because of the age of the 46-year-old building, the city is facing issues in repairing or even replacing damaged equipment, the city's director of the Building Inspections & Code Enforcement Department John C. Hudgison told Columbus Council on Tuesday.

"The company that made the thermostats is out of business," Hudgison said. "We called a company, they called another company and they called another company. We were then told they were out of business."

The city had briefly considered buying the Carmike building when it went on the market in 2017.

In early May 2017, Greyrock Properties LLC purchased the former Carmike headquarters building. The prime downtown real estate became available when Carmike — a local business institution since its founding as Martin Theaters in the 1930s — was sold to Kansas-based AMC Entertainment Holdings in December 2016.

Greyrock Properties leased part of the five-story building late last year to Hall Booth Smith PC, a law firm that has offices throughout the Southeast, including Columbus. Parts of the building remained available.

The city has signed a month-to-month lease with Greyrock Properties and will move the court personnel back into the Government Center when the damaged areas are restored, Deputy City Manager Pam Hodge said on Tuesday. The city is paying $14,615 per month to rent the office space, Hodge said. That cost was approved by and is being paid by Travelers, the city's insurance company.

The offices that are being occupied by court officials are fully furnished, Hodge said. The city only had to move computers into the space.

This story was originally published July 10, 2018 at 5:50 PM.