Jefferson County commissioners will vote this week whether to purchase the downtown Steubenville Towers building that could house county agencies, which would save money from needed repairs and costly rent in other buildings.

"The owner was originally asking $1.7 million, and we are now down to $750,000, which we've agreed upon although we haven't acted upon that," said Dr. Tom Graham, a Jefferson County commissioner.

It already houses a few county agencies, like the health department. Commissioners said the move would save the county thousands of dollars in rent from other offices plus parking fees for county employees.

"It will be a one-stop building for a lot of county agencies. People will know exactly where to go. They'll be access to parking, saving a lot of parking fees as well," said Graham.

The idea came about last year, and officials formed a committee to analyze the numbers. The chairman appraised the Towers building for about $700,000. Graham said the commission would also buy the parking lot across the street from the building, which would bring the total purchase to $850,000. Graham said more plans are on the table.

"We're talking about tearing down the Board of Elections building because it needs $100,000 worth of repairs. There's no parking around the courthouse, and that would give parking around the courthouse, not for employees, but for taxpayers who have a hard time getting access to the courthouse," said Graham.

If commissioners vote to buy the Towers building and tear down the board of the elections office, residents wouldn't see that extra parking until around the fall. Officials said they would hope to have all the county offices moved in by the fall.

Graham said there are pros and cons to any decision, but commissioners believe the good outweighs the bad in the deal.