Mahoning commissioners have emergency meeting Tuesday on courthouse deterioration

YOUNGSTOWN — The Mahoning County commissioners have scheduled an emergency meeting for 8:30 a.m. Tuesday to discuss and institute safety and security measures necessitated by the deteriorating condition of the century-old county courthouse.

The meeting will be in the courthouse basement, and the only item on the agenda is a resolution authorizing emergency measures concerning the courthouse restoration project.

At a meeting today between the commissioners and the county’s common pleas judges, architects presented a $116,000 proposal to erect a scaffolding at the main courthouse entrance and to temporarily shore up the failing base of the rooftop statues.

Architect James Yoder of the 4M Co. of Boardman recommended that public access to the building be switched from the main Market Street entrance to the Front Street entrance until erection of the scaffolding is finished.

The architectural firm has made an initial application for $10.1 million in federal stimulus money to restore the courthouse and repair the adjacent county administration building.

For the complete story, see Tuesday's Vindicator and Vindy.com