The commissioners thought they might have found the perfect site for the proposed 36,000-square-foot facility Monday when they discovered an available 1.64-acre tract of land located on West Street, just a short distance southwest of the current county employee parking lot. Officials originally believed the tract belongs to the city of Warrenton. But when County Assessor Wendy Nordwald looked up the plat number in the city's deed book, she found the city of Warrenton had deeded the property to the Warren County Historical Society in 1992. "If we own that property, I'm not aware of it," said Gene Cornell, the president of the historical society. "We thought the city owned that." Further research, however, showed the site is a former city graveyard and may contain the remains of Warrenton residents and slaves dating back to the early 19th century. That information prompted officials to drop the property as a potential building site. "It would have been an ideal location for our new administration building," said Presiding Commissioner Arden Engelage. "It was large enough to sustain expansion when we needed it, it was a good downtown location near to the current courthouse, and there was room for parking as well." The commissioners estimate they will need about 1.4 acres of land to build a new two-story administration building with a walkout basement. The footprint of the building would be between 12-18,000 square feet. The county owns a parcel of land which is 0.9 acre in size and serves as a parking lot for employees. The lot is located on Walton Street and is behind the current courthouse. County officials have also approached the historical society about the possibility of purchasing two 140-by-70 foot lots which house that organization's museum. With the addition of that land, county officials estimate they would have barely enough property to construct their new administration building. "We're basically back where we were now without the availability of this (cemetery) location," Engelage said. "The same issues we were confronting then are still the issues we have to examine now. "We have to construct an expandable building to serve future needs," he added. "We have to be able to serve the public." The commissioners are somewhat split on where they want to see the new administration building go. Engelage said he has not ruled out a downtown location, but wants to explore other options such as the availability of property in Brune Business Park south of downtown Warrenton or perhaps a location north along Highway 47. "We have to look at every option," said Engelage. Southern District Commissioner Randy Lewis and Northern District Commissioner Jim Logan, meanwhile, previously said they are leaning in favor of constructing the new facility downtown. "This is a big decision, a huge decision, which will impact the county for many years to come," Engelage observed. Lewis said he is opposed to putting the building outside the immediate downtown area. "My opinion is that it belongs downtown," Lewis explained. "I think we need to keep looking at parcels of land in that vicinity until we find what we need." Some elected county officials fear an administration building separate from the courthouse would have a negative impact on restaurants and shops in the downtown area. The purpose of Monday's meeting was originally to get input from other elected county officials on their thoughts on the building's location. Associate Circuit Court Judge Wes Dalton pointed out the county had made what he termed "an investment" in downtown Warrenton 10 years ago when it chose to build the courthouse in its present location on Main Street. "Is it any less important today, than it was then, to keep our governmental offices downtown?" Dalton said. "We could have done this 10 years ago (search for alternative, non-downtown sites) but we chose then to make a commitment. "My bottom line is to keep it downtown," he added. "I believe it needs to stay central to the courthouse." Cornell said he also favored a downtown location. "I like the centrality of the setup now," he said. "But if you (commissioners) determine it does need to move, I would urge you to consider a location which gives the county good exposure, such as on Highway 47 or Highway M. "I call it brand presence," Cornell added. "A lot of times, a person's image of the county can be influenced by the way its public buildings look." Cornell also said he wanted to see the county build for the future "because we have one."