Bartholomew County commissioners had planned for a new county annex building on State Street to be designed by Minneapolis architectural firm Snow Kreilich with architectural fees paid by Cummins Foundation.

And while the County Council reluctantly went along with the plan at first, eventually the council pulled the plug on funding deciding that the county could not afford the new building.

We asked the seven candidates running for Bartholomew County Council if they thought that the county has an obligation to build architecturally significant buildings to maintain the Columbus tradition.

Republican incumbent Bill Lentz said the costs have to be considered first.

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Democrat Diane Hawes said she thinks the council made the right decision.

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Libertarian Josh Brown said that he would have to see the numbers for a future project.

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Republican Matt Miller said that he supports the architectural heritage:

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Democrat Lynne Fleming said there is no obligation to build with world-class architects, but it is a benefit if the county can.

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Democrat Pam Clark said she had a good experience working with CUmmins architectural program when she was at Foundation for Youth

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Republican incumbent Evelyn Pence said that there just wasn’t enough money to make it work this time.

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The seven candidates will be vying for three seats on the Bartholomew County Council.