Ah Ha - now here's a ray of sane light in this messy "discussion." New high rise courthouse on butterfly lot; Council Chambers and perhaps related city offices on north part of the vacant city hall lot (with well built underground parking); public market on south portion of that same lot; and, eventually, remainder of city offices in a remodeled ex-courthouse (with the city renting space downtown until then thus supporting property values there for a while).  If cooperatively designed, such an approach would allow for a coherent, attractive grouping of public buildings along the northern perimeter of a public square with solid deeds throughout and enlarged, functional open space.  Of course, the city would lose several million $ by not selling its property to the county - but who's counting.