Officials explain costs of renovation

The restoration contract didn't include $600,000 in earlier repairs.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
MERCER, Pa. -- The final cost of restoration of the Mercer County Courthouse will be around $12.7 million, about $1.6 million more than the original project estimate.
But county officials and the project architect say that wasn't the result of cost overruns but county commissioners' expanding the project as it went along.
The 4M Co. of Boardman, project architect and construction manager, estimated in March 2001 that the total cost would be about $11.1 million.
Paul Mastriana, a partner in 4M, said the project would have met that estimate had the scope of work not been expanded as the job progressed. He offered a list of changes the county initiated that accounted for more than $1.5 million in additional work that wasn't part of the original contract.
Brian Beader, commissioners board chairman, agreed that the cost of the overall project rose because the previous board of commissioners expanded the scope of the work.
Unexpected needs
Some of those changes, such as adding a fourth courtroom to accommodate the election of a fourth judge or repairing unforeseen building deterioration, were beyond the control of the commissioners and had to be done, said Beader, who wasn't a member of the board at that time.
Commissioner Olivia Lazor was a member of that board and said the contractors doing the restoration work found things that neither the county nor the architects could have known about.
"They didn't know what was behind the walls," Lazor said, adding that workers uncovered serious plumbing and electrical deficiencies and other problems that caused the cost to rise.
The electrical system "was absolutely a hazard waiting to happen," she said, adding that once those problems were uncovered, the commissioners had no choice but to order repairs as part of the renovation.
It would have been irresponsible to allow the deterioration to continue, Lazor said, citing the historic significance of the 1911 building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The restoration contract didn't include $500,000 the county spent to rebuild the north and west porticos and the $100,000 spent to repair ceilings in the two main courtrooms in 2000.
Water infiltration had caused severe deterioration of the steel beams below both porticos, creating a safety hazard. Water leaking through the roof had caused deterioration that resulted in the collapse of a large piece of courtroom ceiling.
Even though the project ended up over budget, Beader said he's pleased with the results.
"We're very happy with the quality of construction," he said, adding that the only work left is fine-tuning of the air-handling systems.
Robert Mastriana, also a 4M partner, said the workers who did the restoration exhibited "phenomenal craftsmanship."
"It came out great," he said. There's still some gold-leaf stenciling to be done on the rotunda walls, but that isn't a part of this contract, he said. The county is looking at raising $75,000 to $100,000 to do that in a future project.
The public may be getting the wrong impression that money was ill-spent, Paul Mastriana said, referring to public comments about the rising project cost.
"This project turned out exceedingly well," he said, adding that he expects the county to win some national design and restoration recognition for its efforts.
"It's a defining building for the county of Mercer," he said. To replace it as is would cost between $50 million and $70 million, he said.
The restoration work came in at $169 per square foot, below the national average of $192 per square foot for courthouse renovations, he said.
The building was in very bad shape in some areas, Paul Mastriana said, citing the plumbing and electrical systems as prime examples. There are always unknowns in this type of project that aren't found until walls are opened as part of the restoration work, he said.
Contingency funds
Robert Mastriana said the budget had a $500,000 contingency built in to cover unanticipated problems, but that was quickly eaten up by work on the exterior.
Previously unknown damage had been done to the building's stone exterior by an earlier sandblasting project and there were other issues with a leaky roof that had to be dealt with to end ongoing interior damage, he said.
4M helped the county cover some of the additional costs by arranging for direct-manufacturer purchase of materials and direct negotiations on work with some subcontractors, Paul Mastriana said. 4M earned about $1.6 million on the project, according to county financial records.
The county is paying for the work out of a $34 million bond issue borrowed in April 2001. That money included $3.1 million to refinance an earlier bond issue. The rest was to go for the courthouse work, estimated at about $11 million; a new county jail expected then to cost around $18 million; a new touch-screen voting system at about $900,000; and improvements to two district justice offices, expected to cost $300,000.
Beader said there isn't enough money left in the bond issue to cover all that work.
The voting system was purchased; the courthouse work will cost about $12.7 million, the district justice offices weren't improved but were relocated at a cost of $600,000 and word is that the new jail, now under construction, could exceed $22 million, he said.
More borrowing?
That would leave the county between $5 million and $6 million short, he said, predicting that more money will have to be borrowed to complete the jail financing.
"It's going to be tight," Lazor acknowledged. If the county does need more money, she said she would prefer short-term borrowing rather than another bond issue.
The state is expected to reimburse the county for the new voting system, and Lazor pointed out that the county has earned about $1 million in interest by investing the bond money before it had to be spent.
The county sold one of its old district justice offices for $60,000; another, as well as a vacant, county-owned building in Sharon, is on the market, she said. All of that money can be directed to completing the jail project while the county makes every effort to control its costs, she said.
Mercer County is holding an open house for the public to get a look at the newly restored courthouse July 16, starting at 9 a.m. to see the offices during normal working hours. A formal grand opening ceremony will begin at 5 p.m., after which people will be invited to take self-guided tours of the building.