| Help could be on the way for county residents who have long struggled with the steps leading to the county's courthouse.
The Calhoun Commission has applied for grant money for several years, without success, to install an elevator to relieve those who have handicaps.
The county has designs for the elevator, but costs have been creeping upward from about $175,000 ten years ago, to over $500,000.
The Commission, using different funding sources, is attempting to install a chair-lift system inside the courthouse, which would allow individuals to enter the basement through an existing ramp and ride the lift upstairs.
Danielle Stevens, executive secretary for the commission, said this week that Secretary of State Natalie Tennant has approved $8,720 in matching funds for the lift project, with additional funding likely available in a few weeks.
The commission has also received a grant from the Secretary of State's office in the amount of $6,078 to pave a pad adjacent the Herbert Smiith building at the county park.
That project, a 25' x 80' pad, will improve access to the building for voting.
The commission has applied for a similar paving project for the Upper West Fork Park community building.
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