Logan County Board seeks urgent assessment of Logan County Courthouse damage and office relocation plans

 

[May 08, 2019]  LINCOLN  -- On Monday, May 6th, the Logan County Board met to discuss emergency plans for the Logan County Courthouse. Last week rain saturated ceiling tiles began falling in the third floor courtroom.
An emergency meeting was held Thursday with Sheriff Mark Landers, Judges Jonathan Wright and Bill Workman, State’s Attorney Brad Hauge, and newly appointed Building and Ground’s Chairman Dave Blankenship to discuss what to do about the offices on the third floor.

Sheriff Mark Landers explained what happened. He said last Wednesday’s rainfall caused the issues on the third floor including debris falling through the tiles. Servpro [Restoration and Repair Services] was brought in to set up fans and dehumidifiers to dry out the carpet, but the rain continued.

When court began its session on Thursday, Landers said more debris came through the roof narrowly missing the State’s Attorney and Court Officer.
Structural Engineers from architectural firm Dewberry came in to assess the problem. They said the courthouse dome is leaking and causing the original plaster ceiling, insulation and tiles to become saturated. Landers said the plaster is so saturated, the rebar inside is starting to rust causing expansion issues, which contributes to plaster falling. The moisture saturated into the plaster above the drop ceiling has damaged the plaster and causes it to fall.

Leaks get behind the paneling and walls and buckets and tarps control some of them, but water finds its way out around the edges. Landers said there is a need to keep water out and control water coming in from the dome and other areas on the roof.

Cracks are developing on all three floors of the courthouse, so Landers said more exploration of the cracks are needed and old tile may need to be removed to find the cause of the cracks. The tile and drop ceiling will need to be repaired.

Right now, the third floor is closed due to hazards and the Fire Department will be doing an inspection. Everyone who has an office on the third floor has been relocated, but the other offices are now crowded. There is space over at some other facilities, but those create issues too.

Landers said a mold issue is a secondary concern, so he wants a company to come in and check for mold.

Board member David Hepler asked whether the Health Department might be used temporarily to house some offices since they have extra space.

Landers said the court needs access to files and an operating space to have continuity of government.

The Logan County Courthouse is on the borderline of needing to shut down the whole facility and Landers asked the board for ideas.

Board Chairman Emily Davenport asked about a contingency plan.

Landers said the board must come up with a plan and other locations with the space to move offices to if the courthouse needs to be shut down. There was a contingency plan written in 2009 that he just received.

Board members had various suggestions about alternative locations.

Board member Chuck Ruben has looked into emergency funds and possible locations such as the County Highway Department and John A. Logan Buildings, but neither is really big enough.
Board member Annette Welch wondered about the possibility of using the old Heartland Community College building.
While some of these places may be large enough, for various reasons they are not necessarily suitable.

Hepler asked about approaching District 27 since they will soon be out of school for the summer and Central School is a large building.

Logan County State’s Attorney Brad Hauge said there is a need to repair issues like the leak in the dome. He is not sure of the extent of the damage, possible costs, what areas might need to be shut down and how long the areas might need to be shut down for repair, but said the board needs a backup plan to keep the government going.

Hauge’s office has been moved to the first floor for now, but he is not sure where everyone would go if the courthouse had to close. Both short term and long term back up plans are needed.
Ruben said with the county finance right now, there is nothing to pay for a larger bond. There may be $300,000 available if the board scraped funds together, but it would mainly help with engineering studies. The board cannot spend money they do not have, and no new funds are coming in. Ruben said the county has lived hand to mouth for years.

Judge Jonathan Wright said they need to look for options for a jury trial coming up June 17. There are no other rooms where the jury could be sequestered, so the judges have reached out to the Illinois Supreme Court for options. Judge Bill Workman said there are other trials also set during the month of June, so they may need to triage what trials need to occur.
Landers said wherever they move, the departments would need access to their files.

A study was done on the ceiling two years ago, but Landers said few roofing companies want to get involved with a historical building. Restorative grants are all about historical replacement.

Ruben said grants are never a short-term solution because it can take between six months and two years to get grants. The previous quote for repairing the dome was $1.5 million. Ruben said the first step is to find out what to do.

Landers will investigate who is available. The last company who surveyed the dome was from Chicago and they are currently restoring a dome in Texas.

The dome has steel girders and Landers said no collapse concern or structural issues were noted, but there is still debris coming down.

Landers said the structural engineering study costs less than $2,000, but he is not sure about costs for historical restoration studies.

Ruben said the board needs to ask Dewberry about bare bones repair costs and checking the concrete floor.

Landers said there is radar that could be used to look under the concrete and beams to check the stability.

Newly appointed Buildings and Grounds Chairman Dave Blankenship said they need to have an environmental engineer come inspect the mold issues because it could have a bearing on decisions they make.

Landers is checking vendors and will reach out to Dewberry about the mold issue.

Blankenship is opposed to any form of patchwork on the roof and dome because he said they could have $35,000 worth of patch work done and the same problem could occur in two months.

Sanders agreed that more than patching needs to be done for the sake of public and employee safety.

Blankenship will be working on a project plan to see what needs to be done next and said it needs to be done in orderly fashion. He does not want to make any recommendations or take actions until getting engineering and environmental studies, and have a full professional assessment of the building’s condition.
Blankenship is also doing an assessment of the dome and roof with an industry professional.

Ruben motioned for money to come out of the courthouse maintenance fund. He said it would also be good to investigate available bonding, though a referendum would not be on the ballot until the next election in March 2020.

The board unanimously approved a spending allotment of up to $2,500 for further studies. The Building and Ground’s Chairman’s spending authority is up to $2,500 for one occurrence.

[Angela Reiners]