Repairs needed to fix leaks in Washington County Courthouse dome
County officials assessing how to fix historic structure
The historic dome atop the Washington County Courthouse is leaking, prompting county officials to apply for a matching state grant to assess the scope of the work and how to best repair it.
The county commissioners during their Thursday voting meeting approved two motions to address the problem, including one that will be put out for bid requesting “leak repairs and restoration services needed on the historical courthouse dome.”
“There is some unknown leak, but because of the height of the dome we haven’t been able to figure out the sources of it,” county spokeswoman Nicole Ford said.
The other motion the commissioners approved was to apply for a $100,000 grant through the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission that would require a 50% match from the county.
“This allows us to do the appropriate due diligence on what the ‘ask’ will be (to fix the leaks),” commission Chairman Nick Sherman said. “Water is leaking, but we don’t know the source of the leak. This grant will give us money to hire the engineering firm to look at what the source of the problem is.”
Information on where around the dome the leaks are happening or if it has damaged other parts of the courthouse were not immediately known. Court Administrator Daniel Buzard referred questions about the issue to Ford.
Work has been done on the dome a couple of times over the past dozen years. Waterproofing and repairs were performed on the exterior of the dome in 2019 and an extensive rehabilitation of the interior was conducted in 2013. The courthouse opened to the public in 1900 and just recently celebrated its 125th anniversary with a special gala in October.
In addition, unrelated repairs are expected to eventually occur on the rotunda above the Family Court Center that is adjacent to the courthouse. Sherman said bees have burrowed into areas inside that dome, which has led to some issues that must be repaired. The scope and timeline of that restoration work were not released.
Also during Thursday’s meeting, the commissioners voted unanimously to authorize the advertising of bids for construction of the county’s new public safety building that will be constructed on the site of the former Courthouse Square office high-rise.
“This is a big project so we anticipate a lot of people will be bidding on this project,” Sherman said.
Sherman said county officials hope to get bids returned in a couple of months to be ready for construction as the work continues to demolish Courthouse Square. He said most of the “hand work” demo has been completed, which includes removing wiring, lightbulbs, porcelain and precious metals such as copper pipes.
One delay has been the additional work needed to stabilize the wall in the building’s parking garage facing the Family Court Center, although Sherman said that was initially supposed to happen after the demolition but has been moved to the pre-demo phase instead. Sherman hopes Courthouse Square will be demolished by the end of March as excavators come in to knock down the building.
Initial renderings of the public safety complex released last March indicate the three-story building will be erected along West Beau Street across from the Crossroads Center county office building. The public safety building will house the 911 dispatch center, sheriff’s office, booking center and have other various office space for county government, along with some areas for civic institutions to gather for meetings. The estimated cost of the public safety building will not be known until construction bids are received by the county in the spring.