MS Consultants get pact to oversee Mahoning County Courthouse renovation

YOUNGSTOWN — The Mahoning County commissioners today hired a local architectural and engineering firm to oversee restoration and preservation of the county courthouse.

The commissioners hired MS Consultants Inc. of Youngstown for $510,000 during their meeting this morning in the basement of the 103-year-old courthouse.

The firm was hired after a lengthy contractual dispute with the previous architectural firm, the 4M Co., which led to the commissioners’ decision last spring to advertise anew for an architect and engineer.

A structural engineer expressed her concerns in 2011 about the potential collapse of the support structure, from which copper rooftop statues were removed in October 2010, and over which a temporary roof is now in place for a fourth consecutive winter.

The engineer, Carol Stevens, also cited dangers she said were posed by rusted carbon steel anchorages that once secured the rooftop cornice and ballustrade.

For the complete story, read Friday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com