In their first meeting since June, the members of the Cass County Historic Courthouse Committee devoted most of their time together on Wednesday morning to tackling the elephant that’s been standing in the room since they began assembling earlier this year.

Namely, just want purpose would a restored Cassopolis courthouse building serve the community?

Around 20 citizens and Cass County officials were present during the meeting, including commissioners Bernie Williamson, Skip Dyes and Roseann Marchetti. The committee discussed the latest updates in the county’s ongoing efforts to restore the more than 100-year-old former county courthouse, located next to the county annex at the corner of Broadway and State streets in downtown Cassopolis.

Shortly after receiving an update about the ongoing efforts to stabilize the structure from Building and Grounds Director Dave Dickey, Dyes brought up the fact that the county has yet to layout a concrete re-use plan for the three story building, should the restoration be completed.

“We still don’t know what we’re going to do with that building,” Dyes said. “I can’t sell that building unless I can tell people ‘we’re going to do this with this building. We’re going to do this with this building.”

Members of the committee suggested some possibilities for how to utilize the space, including moving some of the county offices currently located in the annex. One citizen said that the courthouse could make a great location for a wedding chapel.

“Our clerk, in June, does more than 30 weddings. She does weddings all year long,” said Commissioner Marchetti. “Other than the Kincheloe Room, she doesn’t really have any space.”

The committee also discussed the possibility of renting out space for law offices, cafes or other private businesses.

However, some officials present expressed concerns that the county would be taking on too heavy of a risk by relying on the private sector to help cover the costs of operating the building.

“Do you know how much office space is vacant in this county that nobody uses,” said county Treasurer Linda Irwin. “You’re going to have to give them a really good reason to want to come here, and they’re not going to get this space cheap. This space is not going to be cheap to renovate and it’s not going to be cheap to house here.”

County resident Tom Rose disagreed, though, saying that a restored historical courthouse would make an attractive space for professionals, and could even spark a surge of business growth within the village.

“I agree with you, there are a lot spaces,” Rose said. “But I think those spaces would be rented if there was something here to draw people to this community.”

The committee also discussed how to address a more immediate concern for the project — the structure’s damaged roof. The county received plans from JDH Engineering for retrofits to the trusses of the roof earlier this week.

“My suggestion is that we work on the getting these trusses repaired as the next essential step moving this thing forward,” said County Administrator Roger Fraser.

The next meeting of the committee is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Nov. 19.