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Safety hazards cause concern
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
YOUNGSTOWN
Safety hazards caused by the deterioration of the century-old Mahoning County Courthouse have prompted an urgent meeting among the county’s commissioners and common-pleas judges.
At Monday’s meeting, architects presented a $116,000 proposal to erect a scaffolding at the main courthouse entrance and to temporarily shore up the shifting base of the rooftop statues.
Architect James Yoder of the 4M Co. of Boardman recommended that public access to the courthouse be changed from the main Market Street entrance to the Front Street entrance until erection of the scaffolding is complete.
The judges will discuss that change with the sheriff’s department, said Judge Maureen A. Sweeney, administrative judge. “We’re concerned about the public safety,’’ she said.
Late Monday, the commissioners announced they will conduct an emergency meeting at 8:30 a.m. today in the courthouse basement “to discuss and institute necessary emergency safety measures relative to the courthouse- restoration project.”
The 37-day shoring-up process entails removal of the statues, wrapping the exterior of their granite-and-concrete pedestal with high-strength, stainless-steel cables and installing wall-anchoring plates and cables inside the pedestal to prevent granite and concrete from falling outward, Yoder said.
Monday’s meeting followed issuance of a report from an exterior- facade survey conducted last year, which said the statue pedestal is in danger of collapsing into Market Street due to corroding steel-support beams. “At some point, it will fail. We don’t know when,” Yoder said.
A laser survey shows the statue base shifted outward over the building’s front by more than a half inch during a three-month period last year and eventually will fall, the report said.
Another inspection last Wednesday showed additional movement, which has not yet been measured, Yoder said.
The report was written by 4M and Ameriseal Restoration LLC of Akron, whose examiners inspected the outside of the building from a high-lift.
“We need to make some tough decisions here in the next few days,” including finding a funding source for the temporary shoring project, said Anthony T. Traficanti, chairman of the commissioners. A minor earthquake could cause large stones to fall from the courthouse facade, he noted. “We just want to be precautionary and protect the public’s interest and get on this right away,” he said.
In March, Architect Robert Mastriana of the 4M Co. told the commissioners it is critical to take action because of the extreme hazards to public safety.
Mastriana made an initial application on behalf of the county for $10.1 million in federal stimulus money for the restoration of the courthouse and repairs to the adjacent 1956-vintage county administration building.
In March, county officials cordoned off both sides of the courthouse colonnade at the main entrance as a precaution in case of falling stone.
Two precariously perched 900-pound overhanging granite cornerstones were removed last year from the top of that colonnade because they had shifted due to corroding carbon steel anchoring pins. Those stones lie in perimeter pits in front of the courthouse.
When the courthouse was built, only carbon steel was available, and rust-proof stainless steel was not available, Mastriana said. “As moisture gets through that carbon steel, it just deteriorates it,” he explained.