From our September 14, 2000, edition.

County prepares to oust bats from courthouse 

By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

A two-man team from El Paso started the first phase of abating toxins and bats from the Donley County Courthouse as part of plans to restore the 1890 building.

Luis Acuña of Sun City Analytical, Inc., spent most of Monday pulling samples in the courthouse to be tested for lead paint and asbestos. Acuña and his son Chris also investigated the problem of the bat infestation.

The bats, Acuña said, will present a greater problem than the paint or asbestos, which has been mostly removed already.

“We’ll have to discover [the bats’] entry points, their hibernation period, and what species they are,” he said. “Many of them will soon be migrating for the winter.”

Once the bats have either left or been removed, Acuña said a “super duper” vacuum cleaner will be used to suck the guano out of the building. And to keep the bats out during work on the building, Acuña is suggesting a netting be used that will interfere with the bats’ sonar.

Acuña started working at Ft. Bliss in 1982 before he and his family founded Sun City Analytical in 1987. His company oversaw the abatement work during Potter County’s restoration of the Santa Fe Building in Amarillo. Sun City also has experience dealing with bats, having removed the flying rodents and their droppings from the barracks at Ft. Hood.

The presence of a large local bat colony can be considered a good thing, according to Acuña.

“It means that there isn’t an overuse of pesticides in the area and that the local environment is very clean,” he said. “Unfortunately, what the bats leave behind [the guano] is not good for us.”

In other courthouse news, the county is finalizing plans to relocate county offices during the restoration.

Justice of the Peace Jimmy Johnson became the first county official to abandon the building last week. His office was relocated to 414 S. Kearney St., south of the US Post Office.

This week, commissioners approved a contract with the Local Housing Authority to rent an apartment at 201 E. Third St. for use by the County Extension Office.  Judge Hall plans to deliver the county’s deposit check and signed agreement to the housing authority this week.

Also, the county intends to relocate the probation office to the Courthouse Annex as soon as possible.

Hall also says a team from the county’s architect firm, Volz & Associates, will be returning this week to spend several days in the courthouse.

The team will reportedly be looking behind the jury box and pulling up carpet in the district courtroom. They will be trying to solve a mystery as to what was the original layout of the courtroom.