No morgue in Mt. Airy - county giving up free land

The plan to move Hamilton County's morgue to Mount Airy is dead. So are proposals to move the crime lab, board of elections and several other government offices.

County commissioners killed the ideas Monday after months of increasingly pessimistic talk about the costs of turning Mount Airy's old Mercy Hospital site into a sprawling office complex.

"We are at a point where I think we need to pull the plug," said Commissioner Todd Portune.

The decision means the county coroner's office is still looking for a new home and Mount Airy is no closer than it was a year ago to developing the 68-acre site that once was home to the hospital.

It also means Hamilton County won't be able to take advantage of Mercy Health's offer to hand over both the land and the buildings there for free.

The problem, commissioners said, is that the deal really wouldn't be free for taxpayers. Although the county could take possession of the land and buildings for $1, the cost of renovating the buildings, developing the site and moving county offices could have been anywhere from $30 million to as much as $100 million.

Hamilton County Coroner Lakshmi Sammarco said the cost of converting a portion of the building to a morgue and crime lab would have been about $20 million, but county administrators say upgrades to heating, air conditioning, plumbing and other parts of the building would have pushed the cost significantly higher.

Sammarco and others have complained for years that the morgue and crime lab are in cramped, out-of-date facilities and need a new home.

Administrators proposed last year to renovate the entire complex for the coroner and several other county offices, which they said would be more expensive initially but more cost effective in the long run. They estimated it could save $100 million in maintenance costs for current county office buildings over the next 20 years.

Commissioners, however, said the county can't afford to develop the Mount Airy site. All three say they support finding another location for the crime lab and possibly the morgue, but they aren't sure where or how costly it will be.

"I just don't see any way for us to make it fiscally prudent," said Commissioner Greg Hartmann. "I think we should move on from Mount Airy."

He said splitting the morgue from the crime lab might be an alternative if the space could be found in an existing county building for the lab. He said the county's building at 230 E. Ninth St., which already houses the county prosecutor, is one possibility.

Another option, which Sammarco and many local law enforcement officials oppose, is partnering with the state on a regional crime lab that might not be located in Hamilton County.

Commissioner Chris Monzel had hoped a deal with a private developer might save the county enough money to make moving to Mount Airy worthwhile, but county administrators told him Monday the savings never materialized.

"Whether it's a public project or a public-private partnership, you're probably looking at the same costs," said Jeff Aluotto, assistant county administrator.

Mercy Health officials said they will continue to seek a new owner for the property and will keep the company's promise to ensure the site does not "become derelict."