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Kent’s old courthouse reconstructed as office space

RICHARD WEINER
Legal News Reporter

Published: December 15, 2017

When the city of Kent decided to build a new courthouse to house the Kent branch of the Portage County court, it turned to a local lawyer to save the old one on Water Street.

Kent attorney John Flynn won the city’s bidding process and is now in the middle of revitalizing the building.

“The city is very gratified that the former municipal courthouse was sold to a local business leader with a track record of developing projects that better the Kent community,” said Kent Economic Development Director Thomas Wilke.

Several previous attempts to obtain the property did not work out, said Flynn. “And then [a few months ago] I decided to buy that thing and fix it up.”

Previously, Flynn had been a part of the ownership group that purchased the old train station and converted it into the Pufferbelly restaurant in 1981. That building was just sold and turned into a different restaurant.

Flynn also owns the building that currently houses the offices of his law firm, a few doors down from the old courthouse. He built that building in 1980 and it was, at the time, the first new building in the city in years.

The old brick building at 214 Water St. was originally constructed in the 1930s as a post office. It was later converted into a courthouse, and was then vacated when the new courthouse was constructed and opened in 2014.

Flynn will be converting the older building into “class A office space,” he said. The building has about 11,000 square feet of usable space on the first floor and in the basement.

Flynn said that his firm will occupy about half of that, with the rest available to rent.

Construction on the interior has begun.

“Interior walls of the courthouse remodeling have been removed, as well as ceilings,” Flynn said. “Historic portions of the original post office have been retained. Hardwood floors [were] discovered under the old carpeting, and terrazzo floors in the original post office lobby.

“[We] will soon be looking for tenants with an anticipated completion date of May 2018.”


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