Courthouse repairs planned

The renovations will start
in mid-December.

YOUNGSTOWN — Mahoning County commissioners agreed Tuesday to pay $72,500 to Joseph Painting Contractors Inc. of Boardman to make repairs to the terra cotta exterior of the Mahoning County Courthouse.

But the repairs — the second ones to the exterior in two years — are not likely to complete the job, county officials said.

Pete Triveri, county facilities director, said Joseph Painting will also evaluate the building for a larger exterior renovation. The courthouse was built in 1911 and is due for a more extensive exterior renovation, he said, adding that he’s unable to estimate the amount it would cost.

In recent months, pieces of the building’s western exterior have fallen off into the alley below, resulting in the alley’s being blocked off with construction barrels, Triveri said.

One of the pieces that fell off was a terra cotta bracket, which is a square piece of ornamentation about 3 feet by 2 feet in size. It fell off of western side of the building.

Joseph Painting used stainless steel aircraft cable to support the brackets it felt were unsafe and recommended the replacement of eight.

The exterior renovations will begin around mid-December and take two to three months, Triveri said.

Triveri said the pieces of the exterior that are failing are indicative of a deeper problem in which the pieces of steel underneath are rusting from getting wet, causing instability in surrounding pieces of the exterior.

runyan@vindy.com