Officials OK more money for courthouse repairs
Visitors seeing what appears to be gold-veined marble on the walls of the Washington County Courthouse are actually walking past decorative plaster created by a rubbing technique known as scagliola.
Restoring and repairing the faux marble finish and plaster at the courthouse, begun last year, will cost $21,155 more than estimated.
On Thursday, the county commissioners approved an additional $21,155 to the contract with Church Restoration for plaster repairs in the judges’ law library; Courtroom No. 2, the large red courtroom on the second floor; and Courtroom No. 6 on the first floor, formerly used by now-retired Judge Janet Moschetta Bell.
Randy Vankirk, county purchasing agent, said Church Restoration discovered more damage than anticipated while its crew was working inside the courthouse.
The new amount of the contract with Church Restoration will be $108,221, including a prior change order. The work was recently completed.
Gary Bertosh, director of the Washington County building and grounds and purchasing departments, recommended the latest change order for approval.
“People think its marble, but it’s really plaster,” Bertosh said Thursday.
The work is being done on the heels of another major courthouse restoration project, the repair of the ornate, stained-glass interior dome of the 112-year-old public building, which cost taxpayers $502,812.
From the same bond issue, the commissioners authorized advertising for bids for repairs to the Justice Center Parking Garage at South Franklin and West Wheeling streets.
Made of reinforced precast concrete, the lower level contains both parking for county vehicles and storage for the emergency operations department. It was built about 17 years ago to accommodate 100 cars on 1 1/2 levels without an elevator on a footprint of 220 by 130 feet. A 2011 study of the garage’s deficiencies estimated it would cost at least $300,000 to repair and waterproof the structure’s concrete decks, fix masonry, electrical connections and lighting, and paint the various areas. The repairs are expected to extend the life of the garage for another 10 to 12 years.
The garage is not the three-level structure beneath the Courthouse Square office complex, which includes paid parking for the public entering from West Beau Street.
At the Washington County Airport in North and South Franklin townships off Route 18, the redevelopment authority is seeking bids for the rehabilitation of Taxiway B and pavement repairs.
The total cost is estimated at $850,000, to be funded 90 percent by a federal block grant and 5 percent each from state and county money.