LETTERS: MISSISSIPPI CO. RECORDS RESTORED

To the editor:

I want to publicly thank the commissioners of Mississippi County -- Jim Blumenberg, Homer Oliver and Martin Lucas -- for the unrelenting support they have given me over the past two and a half years as manager of the Mississippi County Records Preservation Center.

Due to their support, the trust and confidence they placed in me, their willingness to listen and to deliver on their promises in prompt order, a nearly impossible task was brought to completion.

The taxpayers of Mississippi County have 98.5 percent of their records, documents and history back. It may not be perfect, but it has restored court and county documents in a logical, systematic manner.

Without the commissioners' cooperation and trust, this restoration and preservation project would never have been achieved.

This is an update of what happened to the records, book and documents in the Mississippi County Courthouse following the devastating fire on Feb. 10, 1997:

A 68-page inventory was presented to the Mississippi County Commission Jan. 13. It is nearly complete, though a few additions will be forthcoming.

The inventory is a blueprint of the holdings of Mississippi County as far as what was stored at the Records Center. It details the contents of every box, including the number of boxes pertaining to a specific item as well as the time period covered.

Systems and codes were created which connected like material and monitored the flow of records throughout the two-and-a-half-year restoration/preservation period. The systems had to be flexible, for the inventory constantly changed.

By Dec. 9, 1999, all records had been transferred to the new courthouse on Main Street. Dedication is scheduled for 1 p.m. Jan. 29. Open house will be from 1 to 3 p.m. Jan 29 and 30. Records are housed in a storage area previously used as the jail in the old courthouse. It has been refurbished.

DIXIE D. ROLWING, Manager

Mississippi County Records Preservation Center

Charleston