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Courthouse entry, exit changed
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William Kostelic, a construction analyst from Poland, examines structural damage inside the Mahoning County Courthouse last June.
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Inspectors from Ameriseal Restoration LLC of Akron and the 4M Co., a Boardman architectural firm, examine the deteriorating facade of the century-old Mahoning County Courthouse in this photo taken in August 2009.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
YOUNGSTOWN
Employees and visitors to the Mahoning County Courthouse must squeeze through a hallway as they enter and exit the building from Front Street.
That south door will be the public entrance at least until a safety scaffolding is erected over the main entrance to protect people from any stone or other materials that might fall from the building.
In an emergency meeting, the Mahoning County commissioners unanimously hired a Cleveland company to install the scaffolding over the sidewalk and front entrance to the century-old courthouse.
Safeway Services LLC will erect the 90-foot-long scaffolding Thursday and Friday at a cost of $7,500, including installation, 90-day rental and removal.
Immediately after Tuesday’s meeting, county workers roped off the front entrance on Market Street and moved the baggage scanner and walk-through metal detector to the Front Street door.
“We acted immediately because, of course, we don’t want anybody to get hurt, and that is our responsibility to do that,” said Anthony T. Traficanti, chairman of the county commissioners.
The commissioners will consider separately a $108,500 proposal by architects from the 4M Co. of Boardman for a 37-day project to temporarily shore up the failing base of the rooftop statues.
That company has applied for $10.1 million in federal stimulus money for full restoration of the county courthouse and repair of the adjacent county administration building.
The architectural firm recommended the immediate scaffolding installation and shoring-up by cabling the granite and concrete statue pedestal after noting accelerated deterioration of the statue base in an inspection last Wednesday.
A laser survey showed the statue base had shifted outward over the building’s front by more than a half- inch during a three-month period last year and eventually will fall, according to 4M, the county’s courthouse-restoration architects, in a report to the commissioners in March.
“We were alarmed and concerned but not to the extent that we are now,” said Robert Mastriana, 4M architect. “We’re trying to err on the side of safety,” he added.
Last Wednesday’s inspection showed more movement, which Mastriana estimated was an additional half-inch.
That inspection also revealed that the timbers bolted to the pedestal last summer to shore up the corroded steel pedestal support beams had come loose, Mastriana said.
The $108,500, shoring-up project the architects propose entails removal of the statues to eliminate wind-driven pressure on their base, wrapping the exterior of their base with steel cables, and installing interior wall-anchoring plates and cables to prevent granite and concrete from falling outward.