Columbus plans new courthouse building Downtown

COLUMBUS, Ohio ( WCMH ) — A building named after Franklin County’s longest-serving sheriff will be demolished after the City of Columbus purchased it for $7 million for a new court building.

The James A. Karnes Building on the corner of High and Fulton streets is being purchased by the city to be made into a Franklin County Municipal Court building. On Monday, City Council approved the second of two $3.5 million packages to acquire the parcel from Franklin County.

Previously the Franklin County Annex Building, the building was later renamed in honor of Sheriff Jim Karnes, who died in 2011 just over a month after announcing he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Karnes’ name will still live on at another building, with a $360 million correctional facility opened in 2022 also named after the former sheriff.

There are no plans for any immediate changes at the existing municipal court building across High Street.

No date has been set for demolition. Construction is supposed to enter its first phase in late 2025, with work lasting through early 2029.

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