Logan County Courthouse restoration: Cupola issues and restoration specifications, transition plans rolling to keep business as usual

 

[September 09, 2021] 

At the Logan County Board’s Buildings and Grounds Committee meeting on Tuesday, September 7, project manager Bill Walter shared several updates on the courthouse restoration.

Building and Grounds Committee members present were committee Chairman David Blankenship, Board Vice chairman Scott Schaffenacker, Janet Estill, David Hepler and Jim Wessbecher.

Work has begun on the cupola on top of the dome. As they have begun digging into the cupola, Walter said a lot of the fiberglass has been removed exposing the copper underneath.

As they have removed the fiberglass, Blankenship said they found the cupola was constructed differently than anticipated.

To restore the cupola, Walter is now looking at two options. He is considering whether to remove the entire cupola somewhat intact or leave the cupola in place as it is restored.

Walter is talking to architects, engineers and other consultants about whether to use copper or precoated metal panels to restore the cupola. There are valid reasons to go with each one, so Walter said they are trying to figure out what would yield the best results. Once the specifications are done, the choice will be presented.

The steel superstructure of the cupola is in excellent condition. Walter said there is almost no corrosion, though it is full of bird excrement.

Specifications for the dome restoration are 98 percent done and are subject to State’s Attorney Brad Hauge’s approval. Once Walter gets the specifications and bid documents approved, he will ask known contractors to submit bids. Within the next four weeks, Walter will also advertise for bids from contractors. He is hoping for four or five bids.

In approximately six weeks or early November, Walter said they should have a contractor on site.

CTS is working on HVAC plans. The performance contract and construction management contract are almost ready for preliminary review.

The construction technical committee will meet next week to go over the construction management contract and dome specifications. In addition, the committee will review security issues with the architect.
 

Walter and Blankenship recently had their first meeting with the transition committee, which is made up of county employees. This committee will be taking care of relocations, storage, IT and anything that keeps the customer service portion of the courthouse going.

With good communication from the committee, Blankenship said the meeting went well. He said Hauge did a good job heading up the transition committee.

From Walter’s perspective, “everyone [was] on the same sheet of music” as far as plans go. They set the groundwork for what they want to accomplish.

The transition committee will look over maps and floorplans soon. Walter will listen everyone’s questions, comments or concerns. Through Hauge, Walter has sent everyone a list of potential questions the committee to consider when responding and providing their own department input.

Next week, Walter said the transition committee will be considering inside needs and the retrofitting of the courthouse.

As the transition committee figures out the best use of space, Blankenship said they will discuss possibly consolidating offices and making space for the public defender. He said they will continue discussing how to consolidate spaces, how to manage the space they have and how to place everyone.

The transition committee gets to bring forward decisions on what they think is best. Walter said the positions and desires of transition committee members were well stated.

Hepler asked if there had been discussion of office space for the military recruiters, County Highway Engineer Bret Aukamp or County Zoning Officer Will D’Andrea.

Looking over interior courthouse space, Walter said they have come up with eight viable spaces. All three offices were on that list.

Not all the conference rooms are needed since most departments only use their conference rooms one or two days a month. Walter said one option is to have one conference room for the whole building. There would then be a calendar provided for departments to schedule their meeting times.
 

Walter does not necessarily want people to have to go through several offices to get to the conference room. Therefore, some people may have to trade offices with others. He is excited about their willingness to accommodate these changes.

[Angela Reiners]