By Tim Arnett
WABASH,Indiana – There may yet be hope to save the historic old Wabash County Jail and Sheriff’s house. At the March 14th Wabash County Board of Commissioners meeting, Steve Downs, Executive Director of Wabash Marketplace, Inc., told the board all viable options to do something with the jail no longer exist. He added that the most likely scenario would be the demolition of the historic building, built in 1880 which is the same year the lights were turned on atop the Wabash County Courthouse.
At Monday morning’s Board of Commissioners meeting, Paul Hayden, Director of the Indiana Landmarks Northeast Indiana Field Office, asked the commissioners to give the historical preservation non-profit organization 90 additional days to find an interested party to re-purpose the building. Hayden said that previous efforts to find a developer or buyer were focused in a smaller, more local area around Wabash County. He suggested opening up requests for proposals for the reuse of the building all over the state via Indiana Landmarks’ website.
If Hayden receives proposals, he said that he will report back to the commissioners with 90 days with a potential end use. Chairman Barry Eppley said that he doesn’t want to give the impression that the commissioners want to demolish the building, but they have been dealing with the property since 2013. Later, Eppley told MiBash News that the county will move ahead with their plans for disposal of the structure if Indiana Landmarks fails to find a potential developer. Barry Eppley.
Paul Hayden of Indiana Landmarks.
In other news at the commissioners meeting, Sheriff Bob Land reported that there are 84 inmates in the Wabash County jail, with 42 overflow inmates currently housed in Miami County.