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Millions sought for landmark
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Mahoning County commissioners are expected to reallocate $177,000 Wednesday to remove and store this statue from the top of the county courthouse on Market Street..
By Ashley Luthern
CANFIELD
A century-old Mahoning County landmark continues to deteriorate at an accelerated rate, and officials are scrambling to find funds after being put on a waiting list for federal stimulus money.
The Mahoning County Courthouse at Market and Front streets needs about $10 million in repairs and restoration to keep it from crumbling, said Robert Mastriana of 4M Co. and Ameriseal Restoration LLC of Akron, which examined the outside of the building.
At their Wednesday meeting, county commissioners are expected to reallocate $177,000 of capital funds to remove the courthouse statue, said county Administrator George Tablack.
Tablack was part of a Monday morning meeting of officials and 4M at the Canfield regional office of U.S. Rep. Charlie Wilson of Steubenville, D-6th.
The two-ton courthouse statue depicts three figures, is 15 feet tall, 40 feet long — and has little left to support it except a pedestal weakened by corroding steel-support beams.
The statue removal is the first step of the $1.6 million first phase of the courthouse restoration, which would also include the replacement of 22 steel beams held in a state of tension until phase two can begin, Mastriana said.
“We have seen the gaps go from 1/2-inch to 11/2-inch gaps in these huge stone slabs. We’re not sure if that’s a direct result of the [June 23] earthquake,” Mastriana said.
“It’s deteriorating at an accelerated rate, rotating outward and it could collapse over the front of the building and rubble would go across [Market] Street, even near the federal courthouse.”
The second phase would cost $6.8 million to complete the exterior repairs. Phrase three, $825,000, would include cleaning the masonry, repairing joints and rebuilding the granite steps in the front of the courthouse.
Phase four, $425,000, would cover interior repairs, such as repainting and plastering water-damaged areas, and phase five, $350,000 would repair the 1956 administration building next to the courthouse.
“The turn-of-the-century architecture used carbon steel, which does not do well with moisture,” Mastriana said.
“Mahoning County did nothing wrong with the building, and it had the same effect as courthouses around the country.”
But coming up with the money for repairs has been difficult.
“We were a little late and didn’t really fit all the issues,” said Ken Carano, regional director for the Office of the Governor, about the project’s pending application for stimulus money.
The cost for repairing the 137,000-square-foot building is still cheaper than replacing it entirely, which would cost a minimum of $65 million to $75 million, Mastriana said.
County officials plan to apply for grants and are considering giving the project to the Western Reserve Port Authority to have one entity in charge of it.
If crumbling courthouses are a statewide problem, Tablack said, perhaps a statewide issue supporting courts would help fund these types of restoration projects, similar to the initiatives to rebuild schools and jails.
4M Co. has completed most of the plans and could have the project under contruction by the end of this year, Mastriana said. It’s just a matter of finding the money.
“This is a signature building. It’s a symbol of Youngstown,” said Anthony T. Traficanti, chairman of the commissioners.
“It’s not a question of not doing it.”