It was a chilly day all day, but there was a lot of warmth in the two celebrations that took place, each one a ribbon cutting for a new public building.
In the morning, there was the grand opening of a new Jefferson County Health Unit, named after educator and legislator Dr. Josetta E. Wilkins, located at the northwest corner of the main JRMC campus.
Dr. Wilkins was getting around slowly but she stood tall at the microphone and her voice, as she spoke about the importance of healthcare and educating youngsters, was strong.
In the afternoon was the opening of a new Jefferson County Coroner’s Office, located at 503 East Second Ave., named after U.S. Brown, who died several years ago. Brown founded Brown Funeral Home and was a fixture in Pine Bluff, establishing himself as community leader as well as a leader in his profession.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The two buildings are also associated with a new Jefferson County Veterans Service Office that opened in November. That structure is named after Sgt. Elga Lee Roberts and is located at 114 S. State St.
All three buildings were desperately needed. There were stories – many stories – of heating and air-conditioning systems not working, bathrooms constantly out of order and offices not safely occupiable. And for the old coroner’s office, in particular, as County Judge Gerald Robinson put it, it was bad enough for people to lose a loved one, but to have to bring them into the coroner’s office was an affront if not just embarrassing.
Robinson took office three years ago with the promise of upgrading these structures, but the cost was daunting. He was given a lot of credit for not stopping when he hit the financing wall. Instead, he put together a unique – well, unique around these parts – public-private partnership with The P3 Group, which, with some significant outside contributions ($1 million from Simmons Bank), made it all happen.
As Coroner Chad Kelley said, he appreciated that Robinson thought “outside the box” on the projects. Otherwise, plans for these facilities might be sitting on a shelf gathering dust.
Robinson made an interesting comment. He was riffing off an old television ad, but his point was that he had seen Jefferson County’s heyday and then it’s low point and that now, the county is on its way back.
We’d like to think that’s the case. Certainly, those who spoke at the ribbon cuttings made similar comments – saying things like we are now the envy of other parts of the state or soon will be. That’s not a place that we are used to being in, but it’s certainly a nice place to be.
As Mayor Shirley Washington said as she praised Robinson for what he’s done in a short period of time: “He’s showing us how to get things done.”
It’s hard to argue with that.