FORT WAYNE, IN (Indiana's NewsCenter) --- The Allen County Commissioners say they still want to talk with Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry about co-location, though Henry pronounced Thursday that the city is now committed to opening a new city hall in the vacant Renaissance Square Building.

Failed co-location clearly puts added pressure on county officials.

That’s because when the city moves to Renaissance in about one year, there will be no “city” in the City-County Building.

The county commissioners were on hand when the Allen County Council voted Thursday to cap the county's contribution towards a co-location option at 3-million dollars.

That's all that the mayor needed to hear, before announcing the city was going in a different direction.

One of the lost opportunities in this new development is the fact city and county police won't be sharing space.

Commissioner Nelson Peters didn't see the mayor's “about face” coming so suddenly.

Nelson Peters/(R) Allen County Commissioner: " We were a little surprised first off that the mayor decreed that the deal was dead Thursday, given the fact that we thought we had until Thanksgiving to respond to him. We think there will be some synergies lost."

Ken Fries/(R) Allen County Sheriff: " I didn't see the benefit, and still don't see the benefit of spending taxpayers money to the tune of millions of dollars to have city and county police in the same building."

Fries says the two departments are connected already via computer networks, so he thinks the idea of co-location is over-rated.

The sheriff's department may well re-direct its headquarters to the City-County Building, and other county workers will likely backfill the rest of the building’s vacated space.

The tough part could come in trying to sell some county buildings to make way for consolidation, given that it's a bad real estate market right now.

County leaders say their budget is in good shape, so they can afford to hold on to properties until market conditions improve.

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