I hope the old becomes new with Law Enforcement CenterThe future of Rock County’s Law Enforcement Center is as uncertain as the building is beautiful.County commissioners are considering either remodeling and expanding it or building new. A couple of commissioners want to build new to save money and improve efficiency. A couple want to preserve the existing facility’s use as a Law Enforcement Center. One might even cast a vote not to do anything just yet.Either way they go, the decision they make as a collective group will displease about half of their constituents.I am one of those constituents … and right now I’m leaning toward advocating an expansion and renovation instead of building new.I just can’t picture the courthouse campus with other county offices in the LEC. This county would have a difficult time supporting and staffing another museum. And I can’t picture any private use that would be feasible.It seems that Land Management staff needs more space than the LEC has, and something like Extension doesn’t need that much space at all.Would anything make a good neighbor to our courthouse, which some have said is the best looking in the state?Some have suggested a bed and breakfast would work. I suppose that would be doable — after they got rid of the lead paint, and after they met a few hundred code updates for overnight stays, and after they put a ton of money and labor into redecorating.One suggestion I would like to make to the county or to the designers is to forget the idea that the LEC needs some sort of community room. A training or meeting room large enough for employees would be all the LEC needs. I don’t think community groups and circles of up to 40 people would choose to meet and use space in a law enforcement center when there is adequate time and space in the library, Human Services building and courthouse, among others.The question of whether to remodel or rebuild isn’t just an interesting question to me. The project matters to people outside of Rock County, too. The Minnesota State Historical Society got wind of a possible expansion and worried that one of the "jewels of the prairie" would be modified beyond recognition.Any addition compromises the initial design of the building. For that reason, they advocate making the addition obviously an addition, where the original can still be seen, separate from the new.Talking to people who actually have to work inside the "jewel" would tell you that it needs modification as badly as it needs preservation.Not only is mildew and grossly inefficient space an issue — but safety for officers and dispatchers who can’t put prisoners in actual holding cells is a much bigger issue.People may see the beautiful exterior and think the LEC’s interior is similar to the remodeled courthouse. Not even close. The paneled walls, antique décor, new lighting and adequate office spaces of the courthouse are far from the outdated, cramped and haphazard surroundings of the LEC. I hope the old becomes new, even though building a new law enforcement center would be cheaper and more efficient. But whatever commissioners decide, I hope the employees, inside the walls of whatever LEC we have, enjoy better surroundings while protecting and serving us all.