A fire-damaged structure purchased by Warren County government earlier this month is coming down sooner than expected.

Warren Fiscal Court voted Thursday to approve the emergency demolition of what’s remaining of the 1019 State Street property it is buying from Magnolia Lane Investments LLC for $400,000.

In voting to pay contractor Scott & Ritter $72,795.90 to demolish the building, the magistrates are simply fast-tracking what county Judge-Executive Doug Gorman said was inevitable after last July’s fire destroyed most of a block that included offices for the Kerrick Bachert law firm and U.S. Sen. Rand Paul.

“This (demolition) was what the ultimate plan was going to be,” Gorman said Thursday. “We just had to speed it up.”

The county is buying three properties – 1019 State St., the 1023 State St. property owned by former Circuit Court Judge Tom Lewis, and the 1029 State St. property that had been home to the law firm and the senator’s office.

“Judge Lewis owns the middle property, and he hired Scott & Ritter to demolish it,” Gorman said. “We were hoping that it wasn’t damaged structurally all the way through, but the shared wall is making us a little nervous.

“We’re taking it down for public safety. We don’t want bricks and debris falling down. It’s in the best interest of the public to demolish it now.”

By having Scott & Ritter’s equipment already on site, Gorman said the county will save $12,000 in demolition costs.

After the Jan. 16 called meeting during which the property was purchased, Gorman said the county has no immediate plans for the property.

“Long-term, it could be extra office space that the county will be able to utilize,” he said.

Another vote at Thursday’s meeting wipes away the Warren County Rescue Squad organization that has been dormant since 2016.

The magistrates voted to dissolve the organization that was in essence replaced by Warren County Emergency Management’s Technical Rescue Team.

“It (Warren County Rescue Squad) has been inactive since 2016,” said Warren County EMS Director Ronnie Pearson. “This was just a formality to dissolve that entity.”

Gorman said any equipment owned by the old rescue squad has been transferred to Warren County EMS and the Technical Rescue Team.

“There were no assets or anything,” he said.

The magistrates on Thursday also approved a one-year affiliation agreement with the county Technical Rescue Team that is made up of the county and city of Bowling Green fire departments.

Also approved Thursday was an expenditure of $116,391 that will help bring a large outdoor playground to the county’s Buchanon Park along Nashville Road.

County Parks and Recreation Director Chris Kummer explained that the county is paying half the cost for the playground, with the rest coming from a grant obtained from the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

The playground will be adjacent to the park’s gymnasium, on the side opposite the new indoor tennis facility.

“There’s nice greenspace there,” Kummer said. “This playground will have multiple play structures for children ages 2 to 12, and it will have handicapped-accessible surfacing and a sidewalk connecting to the gymnasium.”

Kummer described the playground as “similar in scope and size” to Paradise Playground at Basil Griffin Park. He hopes to have it completed by mid-summer.

Other parks-related expenditures approved at Thursday’s meeting:

•$32,954.72 to MCS Lawncare for ballfield seeding and aeration under a 36-month contract.

•$34,820 to Lawn Doctor for ballfield fertilization over 36 months.

•A 48-month lease of fitness equipment from Scheller’s Fitness and Cycling, at $1,288.30 per month, for the senior center at Ephram White Park. The lease also includes two treadmills to be used by the county Sheriff’s Office at a cost of $424.23 per month.

The next meeting of Warren Fiscal Court is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 8 at 9 a.m.