Dougherty Co. opening bids for moving forward with morgue

ALBANY, Ga. – The Dougherty County Coroner’s Office is bringing another proposal to the county commission about plans to develop a proper building to house the county morgue.

Coroner Michael Fowler says the project has been in talks since 2019, before being derailed by COVID in 2020…

But, now, physical work is on the cusp of beginning.

“So, now, they’re trying to get it down to the minimum dollar. And, also, we’re trying to get the facility that we really need. So, we got the location locked down, and now we’re trying to lock down the bidding and go ahead and start the ground breaking…”  said Michael Fowler, Dougherty County Coroner.

While there’s no longer a public health emergency, Fowler says the need for a proper building to house the county morgue is absolutely still there.

“We don’t know if COVID is going to come back or another virus is going to hit. We don’t know if a plane is going to crash. We need to have a nice morgue, a large enough morgue that we can put a deceased person, loved ones in, and be able to have a place that has a generator that can keep them cold…” said Fowler.

Fowler showed off the plans for the proposed morgue to county commissioners.

He wants to make sure that the coroner’s officer doesn’t have to keep using services from the Phoebe Health System.

“We right now are using the Phoebe morgue. So, we definitively need the county on board, and like I said, we need a larger morgue also,” said Fowler.

And, after years of planning, it seems that the work on a proper morgue for Dougherty county is finally going to pick up the pace.

“I’m just so excited that we’re moving forward. Like I said, it’s been on the agenda for a long time. So now, I think the citizens of Dougherty county deserves to have a nicer place to have their loved one be in,” said Fowler.

With the county now taking bids to build the morgue, Fowler is wanting the county to begin breaking ground on it as soon as possible in 2024.

Fowler says he would ideally like to break ground on the morgue on January 1st.

Brian Roche reporting.

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