Heavy rains collapse Logan County Courthouse third floor ceiling

 

[May 03, 2019] 

On Thursday morning as courtroom staff and attorneys were preparing for the full docket of court cases before Judge Workman in the third floor courtroom at the Logan County Courthouse, the ceiling came crashing down. For Logan County Sheriff Mark Landers the incident just drives home the fact that the historic courthouse is in trouble, and something has to be done sooner rather than later to repair the aging dome of the courthouse and prevent further interior destruction.

On Thursday morning Landers gave an account of the events of the past two days. After heavy rains on Tuesday night, leaks around the dome on the courthouse began soaking through to the original ceiling of the third floor courtroom. On Wednesday, a piece of the plaster from the original ceiling came down and crashed through the newer dropped ceiling tiles.

Landers said that caused water damage to the ceiling, the paneling and the carpeting in the courtroom. At that time, he had contacted a professional service that deals with rain and flood damage to start clean-up in the courtroom. He said that Servpro had been called and brought in dehumidifiers to dry the paneling and carpet. He said the company was also hired to do necessary treatment to prevent mold and mildew due to the moisture.

Because the damage occurred along the wall where the bailiff table normally sits, that area was cleared out Wednesday by the cleaning company.

Rains continued Wednesday night into Thursday morning. At approximately 9 a.m. on Thursday, just as courtroom staff and attorneys were preparing to start the day, another large portion of the original ceiling fell, crashing through the hung ceiling and splattering all around the area where the bailiff should have been.

Landers said that was the blessing of the story that due to the first ceiling failure, the bailiff was not sitting at that table. And, no one was injured by the crashing debris.

The courtroom was immediately closed and Judge Workman and his staff were reappointed to the first floor courtroom. Landers said that the smaller courtroom and sharing space is going to be a hardship for the judge, attorneys and the clients they will be representing. He said the smaller courtroom is not sized to handle the volume of people who will be utilizing it for the immediate future.

Landers said that an emergency meeting had been scheduled for noon to discuss what the next steps should be.

Asked about the damage around the dome, Landers said that he was not going to permit anyone to go upstairs until he has had it inspected by a structural engineer.

Immediately following that emergency meeting the following official statement was issued by Sheriff Landers:

“On May 2, 2019, at approximately 9 a.m. a portion of the interior ceiling of the third floor courtroom at the Logan County Courthouse collapsed. This collapse of the ceiling was due to rain water that entered the structure through the leaking done. Court was in session when the collapse occurred, however there were no injuries sustained by anyone present in the courtroom.

“Damage assessment is currently ongoing and at this time, as a precautionary measure, the third floor of the Logan County Courthouse will be cordoned off. All court services will continue to function, but will be limited to the first and second floor of the courthouse. For those appearing for a scheduled court hearing, please check in with security when entering the courthouse to ascertain where court proceedings will be taking place. Court will be held on both the first and second floor and governmental offices will continue to operate as normal with the exception of the Logan County State’s Attorney office which was impacted by the incident. Further information will be forthcoming on the continuity of operations from State’s Attorney Brad Hauge in regard to his office.

“Please check the Logan County website for future updates.”

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A scene of the courtroom and the area affected by the collapse.

A close look shows the original ceiling and wall above the drop ceiling. The extra light colored area in the ceiling is the area where that plaster fell on Wednesday.

Sheriff Landers holds the piece of plaster that fell on Wednesday.

The five panels missing from the ceiling show the amount of damage caused on Thursday morning.

Looking closer, one can see the large gaping hole where the original ceiling broke away and crashed through the dropped ceiling.

Courtroom staff gather up items normally used in the third floor courtroom to be taken downstairs for the unforeseeable future.

The large piece of equipment is a dehumidifier that was used on Wednesday to start drying the carpeting and paneling. The machine is standing exactly where the bailiff’s table normally sits and is covered with debris from the Thursday morning cave in.

The third floor courtroom at the historic Logan County Courthouse is one of the oldest working courtrooms in the state. As a testament to its age and authenticity, the wire racks on the bottom of the original wood seats are where gentlemen placed their top hats while attending court.

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The Logan County board has attempted twice to pass a sales tax referendum that would cover the cost of doing a rehabilitation/restoration of the courthouse dome as well as pay for added and mandated improvements to the Logan County Safety Complex. In both attempts the referendums failed to pass.

While Landers did not discuss this on Thursday, past conversations by Logan County board members have indicated that without the sales tax, the board must decide how to approach repairing the courthouse as well as how to pay for such repairs. However, to date, no official decisions have been made by the board.

Landers did say on Thursday that he realized that he was a new sheriff for Logan County, and has been speaking about the need for repairs and upgrades to county properties since taking office. However, he said the problems have existed for a long time, and addressing them has been delayed. Now, he is the one responsible for these buildings, and he says that surely this will drive home to the public that something needs to be done.

Late Thursday afternoon media were alerted of a special meeting that will be held on Monday, May 6, 2019 at 6 p.m. in the Conference Room of the Logan County Paramedic Association, 1300 North Postville Drive in Lincoln. The meeting is being held to discuss emergency repairs to the Courthouse.

[Nila Smith]