Saturday, April 23, 2011
YOUNGSTOWN
Once the heating season ends, 14 boilers and eight hot-water pumps will have to be removed temporarily to allow installation of new attic flooring at the Mahoning County Courthouse to stop leaking water from further damaging the historic building.
“We need to tie this in with the courthouse restoration,” said James Fortunato, county purchasing director, after a Friday attic inspection in the century-old landmark.
“The very first scope of work that we had in the proposal for the restoration was the attic work,” said Architect Robert Mastriana of the 4M Co. LLC, who is overseeing the restoration.
The water, which leaks through and peels paint from the fourth-floor ceiling, has forced closure of a flight of marble stairs between the third and fourth floors.
“Everything on that floor has to come out of there, and the floor has to be treated so it can accept the bond of a waterproofing,” said Peter Johnson, co-owner of Summitville Tile Co. and president of Architectural Ceramic Products of Boardman.
The paint must be ground off the floor before the floor is cleaned and a waterproof membrane and quarry tile with epoxy grout are applied to it, Johnson said.
Johnson, who accompanied county officials on the inspection, and a boiler contractor will provide the county with a cost estimate for the project.
The leak appears to be caused by “sporadic leaking of the boilers” and their piping systems, Mastriana said. Another contributor may be rainwater leaking through rotted original attic window sashes, which are to be replaced in the restoration, he added.
All pipe joints must be inspected to make sure they’re properly sealed, Mastriana said.
Mastriana urged county officials to relocate storage of old court records from the courthouse attic to Oakhill Renaissance Place to eliminate a fire hazard and to allow restoration workers access for repairs. “We need complete access,’’ he said.
As part of the restoration, the beams supporting the courthouse roof must be reinforced at their ends, where moisture seeping through exterior walls has corroded and weakened them.
To date, the county commissioners have borrowed $9,354,896 in three loans toward courthouse restoration and will owe $5,473,348 in interest on that money over the 20 and 25 year lives of those loans, according to the county auditor’s office.