The Kleberg County Commissioners Court reviewed a facilities use master plan for Kleberg County buildings at a special meeting Friday, including two options for resurrecting the long-vacant Exxon building.

CAS Company of Harlingen presented the Exxon plan, which would have a total cost of 1.8 million dollars, just short of the 2 million dollar budget previously allocated by the county.

The master plan is aimed at improving current building use, provide functional space allocations, upgrade buildings to new code requirements, develop future needs, and add value to current county buildings.

According to Raymond Moses, division manager with CAS, the two story Exxon building itself would need a brand new roof and fire sprinkler system on both floors.

Roberto Ruiz, the architect working with CAS, discussed the potential of the Exxon building and has already studied the building to see which departments currently in the courthouse could be relocated there.

“We are looking at a building with 37,715 sq. ft., which is plenty of room for what we are trying to accomplish,” Ruiz said.

“This building has great potential.”

Ruiz presented the two options as to what could be done with the building, located at the corner of Fifth and King, keeping in mind the city ordinance on required offstreet parking for an office building.

“The space currently has only 53 parking spaces, Ruiz said.

“For every 200 sq. ft. of office space one parking spot is needed,” he said.

Option A proposes demolishing half of the Exxon building for additional, as well as persuading the City of Kingsville to designate parking on South Fifth Street between the west side entrance and the old Kingsville Publishing Company building for Exxon building parking only.

“This option would still allow us the Exxon building at 20,460 sq. ft and all of the parking ordinances would be met,” Ruiz said.

Option B proposed keeping the Exxon building as is, however only allotting the top floor for office space and the first floor for storage.

“Because only one floor of the building would be offices, we would be able to meet the requirements for the city ordinance on parking by keeping it as is,” Ruiz said.

Offices proposed to be moved to the one floor would be the veterans services office, tax and licensing office, and welfare office, plus a 1,000 square feet of space would be available to the county in the future.

If approved by the commissioners court, the remodeling could include a new façade for the building that combines the architecture of Texas A&M University- Kingsville and the King Ranch Saddle Shop.

According to Moses, the total cost proposed cost of 1.8 million dollars would include the roof, sprinklers, all construction, and permits and fees.

Phone and computer data connections, asbestos abatement, which would cost around $20,000, were not include in cost calculations.

The commissioners discussed the possibility of some of the work being done by county employees as a way of saving money.

CAS officials indicated they would be opposed to the idea and said they would comply with what the county choses to do.

A motion was made by Commissioner Romeo Lomas and seconded by County Judge Pete De La Garza to have CAS move forward with its plans as long as it was within the $2 million budget.

Commisioners Roy Cantu, Norma Alvarez, Lomas, and the judge voted in favor of the motion while Commisioner David Rosse voted against it, citing a need for more review of the budget.

Rosse said he was very pleased with what CAS had presented.

Commissioners court decided not vote on a specific option for the Exxon building until more specific numbers within the budget were reviewed.