Members of the Broderick Family and Community Education (FCE) group proposed repurposing the old Pott County Jail as a welcome center to promote attractions in the northern Flint Hills....

In other business Monday: Counselor John Watt, in response to a question from commissioners last week, said there is no statutory authority for appealing a decision to list the Pott County Courthouse on the National Register of Historic Places....

State officials now have a voice in the future of the Pottawatomie County Courthouse at Westmoreland. The Kansas Historic Sites Board of Review voted Saturday to place the 133- year-old courthouse on the National Register of Historic Places. The vote was 5-0, with one abstention....

County Commissioners Monday opposed listing the Pottawatomie County Courthouse on the National Register of Historic Places, saying the move could “tie their hands” in deciding the future of the structure. ...

The Great Limestone Debate continued Monday at the weekly meeting of the Pottawatomie County Commission. Dru Clarke, rural St. George, presented information contrary to that presented last week by Ross Hill, Belvue, which contradicted information presented several weeks ago by Clarke. ...

Ross Hill, Belvue, presented geological information about limestone quarried in this area and questioned its long-term stability in structures such as the Pott County Courthouse. Hill cited an article in The Topeka Capital-Journal titled “Kansas State is Crumbling” about the deteriorating condition of many limestone buildings on the K-State campus....

A group interested in preserving the old Pottawatomie County Courthouse met with commissioners for a “roundtable discussion” at the Law Enforcement Center in Westmoreland last Tuesday night. In addition to the discussion participants, approximately 25 other community members were in attendance. The group had a prepared list of topics concerning the 1884 courthouse, most of which was generated from items brought up at a previous meeting. Ruby Zabel handled most of the questioning based on the document....

Public Works Director Peter Clark presented the commission with answers to 40-plus questions submitted during a July 6 forum to discuss the feasibility of including the courthouse in the county’s long-term facilities master plan. ...

The commission agreed to have a roundtable discussion with members of a concerned citizens group to discuss the Pott. County Courthouse and other facets of a proposed long term Facilities Master Plan completed recently for the county. “Our intent is not to bring a bunch of angry people. We don’t need that,” said Ruby Zabel, a member of the citizen’s group. ...

Pottawatomie County commissioners Monday heard another plea to save the county courthouse at Westmoreland. Dru Clarke, rural St. George, said the courthouse, the second oldest in Kansas behind the Chase County Courthouse at Cottonwood Falls, is part of the area’s heritage. ...