Evansville-Vanderburgh County Building Authority
The Building Authority is an independent municipal corporation whose purpose is to serve the needs of local government in acquiring, financing, constructing, and managing building projects of a substantial nature. The Evansville-Vanderburgh County Building Authority is an independent body organized under Chapter 54 of the Acts of the Indiana General Assembly for 1953, now cited as Indiana Code §36-9-13-1, et. seq.
Building Authority History
In the early 1950’s, various civic and governmental leaders in Vanderburgh County determined that an independent municipal corporation was needed to finance and construct a new city-county building to replace the then-obsolete and deteriorating Vanderburgh County Court House and the old City Hall. The new structure would house City and County government, the sheriff department and jail, the police department and the Vanderburgh County courts. Previous experience had indicated that an independent, professionally-managed entity would best serve the long-term needs of local government for a first-class government office building.
Utilizing the 1953 legislation, the then-Vanderburgh County Board of Commissioners, the Vanderburgh County Council and the Common Council of Evansville in joint action in 1961, organized the Evansville-Vanderburgh County Building Authority (“Building Authority”). The Building Authority has the statutory power to construct, acquire, finance, operate and maintain land and government buildings for the use of eligible government entities in Vanderburgh County.
The first project of the Building Authority was to finance and construct the Civic Center Complex. Construction was started in 1966 and completed in 1969. The Civic Center Complex, under the management of the Building Authority, has provided space for the joint use of the City and the County since 1969. All bonds issued by the Authority for the construction of the Civic Center Complex have been repaid. There is no outstanding debt on the building.
Since the construction of the Civic Center Complex, the Building Authority has built and continues to manage many properties for the City of Evansville and Vanderburgh County. The Building Authority purpose is to finance, improve, construct, reconstruct, renovate, purchase, lease, acquire, equip, operate, maintain, and manage land, government buildings, or systems. The Building Authority currently maintains approximately 2 million square feet of space and approximately 60+ acres of land for the City of Evansville and Vanderburgh County collectively.
The Building Authority has maintained a non-political operation since its inception in 1961.