Moving underway into new Election Board office

James Beaty, McAlester News-Capital, Okla.
·2 min read

Mar. 15—Workers were busy Thursday moving equipment and furniture, along with upgrading wiring and making other improvements to the building set to become the new home of the Pittsburg County Election Board.

Professional movers had already taken one load from the County Election Board's headquarters on the second floor of the Southeast Expo Center to the 7 E. Chickasaw Ave. location that will serve as the board's new home.

"The moving truck moved part of it Wednesday," said Assistant Pittsburg County Election Board Secretary Christy Holt, speaking early Thursday from the Expo Center.

They took another another load Thursday as the moving process continued.

Pittsburg County Election Board Secretary Tonya Barnes cited multiple reasons why the new location will work better than the one at the Expo Center, including its more centralized location.

She hoped to have the moving process completed by next Wednesday.

The Pittsburg County Election Board's new 7 E. Chickasaw Ave. location is between South Main Street and S. Second Street.

That's west of the First National Bank & Trust's drive-in motor bank at the corner of Second Street and Chickasaw, and a block south of Choctaw Avenue in downtown McAlester.

Pittsburg County commissioners decided to move the Pittsburg County Election Board offices from the Courthouse Annexation Building in 2023, after the Election Board offices repeatedly flooded.

They set the Election Board up with temporary offices of the second floor of the Southeast Expo Center, while county commissioners looked at several options.

Those options included the possibility of repairing and upgrading the flood-prone Election Board office in the Courthouse Annex.

When the estimated costs came in at what county commissioners considered cost prohibitive, they looked into the possibility of constructing a new building to house the Election Board — but estimated costs for constructing a new building also came in higher than expected.

That's when county commissioners opted to rent the building at 7 E. Chickasaw Ave. from the First National Bank & Trust.

Commissioners expected to rent the building for at least six months, and it's likely they will utilize an option to rent the building for an additional six months, said District 1 Pittsburg County Commissioner Charlie Rogers.