Officials cordon off courthouse colonnade

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Mahoning County officials have cordoned off both sides of the colonnade at the front of the county courthouse as a precaution against injury to pedestrians due to the potential for falling stonework.

Loose, overhanging 800-pound granite cornerstones were removed from the rooftop level of the colonnade during an inspection of the century-old building to evaluate its restoration needs.

“We took those down because it was so unstable. There was nothing holding those,” said Robert Mastriana, courthouse-restoration architect.

Both sides of the front steps to the courthouse were immediately roped off at midday Thursday upon Mastriana’s recommendation to the county commissioners in a Thursday staff meeting concerning courthouse restoration. “It’s not safe,” Mastriana told the commissioners.

“I think it’s prudent for facilities to request that the sheriff’s office order that done,” said George J. Tablack, county administrator.

“There could be some factors we can’t control that would cause some more stones to fall,” Mastriana explained.

The cornerstones that were removed above the main courthouse entrance had shifted due to corrosion of carbon-steel anchoring pins, according to the architect’s report to the commissioners.