Logan County Courthouse contractors prepare departments for fall and winter moves to install Geothermal, HVAC and lighting


 

[August 15, 2022] 

At a special Logan County Board meeting on August 8, board members and several county employees heard an update on the impending schedule for the next phase of the courthouse restoration.

Project Manager Bill Walter of MRTS said the next phase will be the performance contract portion of the restoration. This portion deals primarily with outside well fields being drilled, the interior HVAC system being installed and associated electrical and plumbing that goes along with it.

With the construction management portion, they were about a week away from putting out advertising for bids. When bids come back, Walter and others involved will look and see whether the prices are favorable.

For the performance contract, Walter said they went round and round with several options to keep the price reasonable. They also spoke with many contractors.

Representatives from the companies CTS and Veregy detailed how the project would be laid out and how it would affect everyone’s office when they need to free up space to work.
Material availability has caused delays, so Walter said making a schedule has been a challenge. He said questions during the presentation would be acceptable.

Next, Walter introduced John Mihulka, the project manager for the performance contract. He gave a general presentation of how Veregy would be proceeding with their work beginning around September 12 to December 5.

The well fields that will be drilled will be in the main grass area on the south part of the courthouse and around the corner to make an “L” shape. Veregy will put fencing around the are where the well fields will be drilled. With the exterior work, machines will be drilling large holes. Mihulka said this area will be clearly marked.

The fencing will act as a barricade against any construction activity that will be happening.

People will continue to have access to the south entrance and outside elevator but will need to enter from the Pulaski Street or Broadway Street sidewalks.

Drilling the well fields should take about two months from mid-September to mid-November with lines going to the basement. A couple times when piping is being put into the building, Mihulka said the east side to get to the Mclean entrance of the courthouse will not be accessible.
 

Electricity from the new transformer will also go in from the Mclean side.

Out of the two to two-and-a-half months, Mihulka said there should just be two to four days the courthouse cannot be accessed from the south entrance.

Based on anticipated availability of parts, Walter asked the Veregy representative to share when the third floor needs to be evacuated.

Around Mid-December, Mihulka said geothermal pumps may arrive. Heat pumps are likely to be in then too. Prior to that, they will be running piping and electric into the building. He anticipates employees on the third floor may possibly need to be moved sometime in November.

What Mihulka does not want to do is over schedule and then have a delay due to parts not arriving when anticipated. By the next meeting, he hopes to have a much more concrete schedule for the interior work.

Up until this past week, Walter said October 1 was a day they were shooting for as far as needing to start moving people. He said there is no sense moving people when it is not necessary. Waiting to move people will give them more time to plan what and who needs to be brought over to the Orr Building.

As contractors get further into work, Walter said things will be firming up. By September 20, Walter will give another update with firmer information on material availability.

Even then, Walter said if there are any surprises in delivery in October, adjustments could be made before moving offices. He would be positive things are happening when people are asked to move.

With one primary component, Walter said it has been promised in February. However, he said they plan to do some creative engineering to circumvent the need for that part and substitute it with something equal or better. That way, they will not have to wait so long for the part.

By then, Walter said everything else should be completed substantially. All that will be necessary is to put in electrical plumbing.

From a practical standpoint, Logan County State’s Attorney Brad Hauge then had a few questions. Hauge asked about hours of operation, how the work would impact parking and what noise level to expect.

Mihulka said most work would be done between 7 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. There would be some noise, but he said they would not be pounding or breaking concrete. They will be using a drill that goes down into the ground.

Occasionally, there may be some specialty work done at night.

For asbestos abatement, Walter said they have talked about utilizing the opportunity to work on the weekends.

In specific localized areas of the first and second floors, Walter said some work may be done during evenings or weekends.

Parking will not be affected any more than it is now. Since the work being done outside will be in the grassy areas, it will not affect equipment in parking areas. Mihulka said they would park where the county asked them to park. Pedestrian access will only change due to rerouting.
 

A large television monitor will be put up in the courthouse showing all photographs being taken. Walter said there will also be information about the restoration going across the screen. He will be sending out emails to update employees on what is happening and what access may be affected.

In upcoming weeks, Logan County Treasurer Penny Thomas said there will be many people coming in and out of the courthouse because of property tax due dates. She wanted to know if that would be affected by work going on outside.

Even with the work going on, Michelle James of CTS said people would still have access to the entrance.

To direct people, Thomas asked about them putting up signs. When the scaffolding was first put up over the main entrance, Thomas said some were confused and thought the courthouse was closed.

Walter said they could make sure there are signs out saying “enter here” and follow red or green arrows.

Election equipment will be delivered and there were concerns about how the work would affect that.

Logan County Sheriff Mark Landers said they would need to coordinate that.

The Veregy representative said there will still be accessible areas.

If fencing goes up September 12, Mihulka said drilling of the 40 well fields will take approximately eight weeks. The well fields will then be tied into the building. Access will be coordinated then.

Some days, the accessible elevator may need to be accessed by coming in from the Pulaski Street side. When the electrical tie in is done, Mihulka said entrance will need to be from Broadway Street.

During the construction management phase, Walter said he does not see a need to block the ramp. There will be special lay down areas and they will make sure the ramp is partitioned.
 

At the October board meeting, Walter said they may tell employees [on the third floor] they need to start moving by November 1. There will be additional updates in November and December. He said they keep getting more information every day.

Board Vice Chairman Scott Schaffenacker next asked how work on the dome is going.

With the dome work, Walter said things are going well if not better than what had been anticipated with the schedule. Their goal is to have the dome work substantially complete sometime in October.

Walter said they will coordinate and hope to have the copper and cupola installed before the end of October.

In late October or early November, Walter said they will start dismantling the steel scaffolding. His intention is to have everything off the roof, scaffolding and steel wise, in the month of December, though the date is not yet certain.

For clarification, Hauge asked if after moving people out of the third floor in November, people from the second and first floors would be moved later. He wanted to know how long the moves would last.

Logistics and certain processes are what Walter said they will have to rely on. They could be out between two and four weeks. He said they understand there is a lot of movement that has to happen and it could be December or January when others are moved.

The act of moving employees from the third floor is something Walter said will act as a training ground. That move will show how smoothly everything went, what was involved and how many people are required to move.

Hauge asked if everyone on the third floor would be moved at once or if it would be just one half and then the other half.

Ideally, Mihulka said everyone on the entire floor would be moved.

The second phase interior work with geothermal will be done in a loop. Mihulka said it will go up to the third floor then down to other floors.

The first interior phase will be longer. Mihulka said they will not only be doing work on the third floor and basement but will also bring risers up.

Once the loop is created and they get it commissioned, Mihulka said when they move people from the third floor back, the loop will already be engaged. When that part is done, he said they will have a better idea of how the rest will go.

Since new lighting and a ceiling grid will be added, Walter said workers will need access to the entire floor.

There will be meetings with department heads once work is being done inside. Walter and the contractors will tell the department heads what needs to be moved and how it can be moved. He does not think it will be necessary to move everything out of offices.

If people need to get access to their offices to get files still in there, Walter said there will be protocols.

Some files are stored in the basement and Gil Bucio of CTS asked if departments anticipate needing access to them. Bucio was asking because some basement files will need to be moved to create space for contractors to install piping.

In the Circuit Clerk’s office, Logan County Circuit Clerk Kelly Elias said they access files in the basement daily.

To ensure employees know where the files are put, Bucio said moving the files will have to be carefully coordinated.

Because there are quite a few files, Elias feels like maybe they should be moved now. Her department is in the middle of a major scanning project, so Elias would have liked to know months ago before she moved files. She asked for better communication.

Walter would like to meet with departments individually so they can take contractors to these areas. The performance contractors can help determine how much needs to be moved.

The IT department is housed in the basement. Therefore, Landers asked if IT would need to be moved out of there.

IT is in the center of the basement, so Walter said their movement would be minimal if needed at all.

When Walter and contractors meet with department heads individually, he said they could show drawings. They will be very detailed about what will need to be moved.

In the event workers are in the courthouse at night, Facilities Manager Christopher Wilson asked about security.

All contractors are vetted, so Landers said security is not a big problem.

If work needs to be done at night, Walter said they would let people know way ahead of time.

County Employee Lisa Bobb asked how they could be assured the building is safe when scaffolding has been up for nearly two years.

The scaffolding is inspected quarterly. Walter said there have been a few adjustments due to wind. Employees are still safe.

If anything, Walter said they have overcompensated and overbuilt. They went above and beyond to ensure safety.

Everything that was compromised is now gone including the plaster above the drop ceilings. Walter suggested, to emphasize his point, that he would feel safe inside the courthouse in a tornado.

[Angela Reiners]