McDowell County Magistrate Court Detail Report

Component	Current Status	Recommendations	Cost
General Exterior	The original date of the McDowell County Magistrate Court construction is not known. The approximate size of the building is 9408 square feet and it is three stories plus a basement. Views of the Magistrate Court. P1, P2, P3. The general exterior is in good condition. This building is not on the historic register.
Exterior Walls	The foundation of the building is stone and the exterior walls are brick. There is some water staining, efflorescences, moss growing and crumbling mortar on the building. P4 P5 There is a crack on the southwest corner of the building that has been patched. P6	Consult a structural engineer for further evaluation of the foundation. Clean and Repoint Brick (approximately 6000 sf)	$ 2,500 $34,000
Roof	The roof on the building is low slope (relatively flat) with a rubber membrane and had been replaced approximately three years ago. The roof was noted to be in very good condition.
Windows and Doors	The windows throughout the building are in good condition. Some windows have been blocked up. P3 The two windows on the front of the building are original. They are wooden, single pane and double sashed. The rest of the windows are aluminum, double pane and double sashed. They have been replaced but the date is unknown. P8 The front entrance door is steel frame with glass. P9 The back entrance door into the basement of the building is solid steel and is in very good condition. Neither of these doors have panic hardware installed. The doors swing into the building.	Replace two windows on the front of the building with new commercial grade windows. Install panic hardware on the basement door.	$ 2,000 $ 1,000
Fire Safety	The building has a fully functional Edwards System Technology fire alarm system located throughout the building with all forms of detection and announcement available. P10 Some of the pull boxes were located high on the walls possibly out of the reach of the public. P11, P12 The only means of fire suppression is the extinguishers located throughout the building. The doors also swing into the building. The main stairway is enclosed by block and is in good condition. P13, P14 Emergency lights appear to be located in the proper place, are battery operated, and are in working order. There is a fire escape attached to the west side of the building with doors that have panic hardware installed. They serve all floors of the building. P17	Lower all fire alarm pull boxes to standard height.	$ 1,500
Structure	On the 2^nd level the floor sags about a half-inch as it heads towards the center of the room. The interior of the building has been recently remodeled and is in good condition. P34	Consult a structural engineer for further evaluation of the floor system.	$ 2,500
Security	There is a closed circuit television system in the building. There are duress buttons and ballistic material on the judge’s bench on the second floor. The first floor judge’s bench does not have ballistic material. There were no guards or metal detectors seen in the building. Courtroom views. P20, P21, P22	Access to the building should be restricted to the main entrance where a magnetometer and X-ray machine needs to be installed. Install an alarm system on all windows and exterior doors, except the main entrance. A duress button and ballistic material need to be installed on the judge’s bench on the first floor.	$ 40,000 $ 5,000 $ 2,000
Electrical	The main electrical service for the building enters from the front east side from a set of pole-mounted transformers across the street. P25 The service is then distributed from a Square D 208Y / 120V, 800 A, 3 Phase, 4 Wire main distribution panel. P26 The electrical service is then distributed to panels throughout the building. P27, P28, P29, P30 The electrical service to and in the building is in good condition with no major problems reported. The building’s communications panel is located in the northwest corner of the basement. Some wires are hanging and are disconnected from the system. P31 The interior lighting is relatively new and is in good condition. Here are some general photos. P32, P33, P34, P35. The emergency lighting is battery back up type, appears to be located properly, and is in good condition.
Mechanical	The building has 3 Rheem furnace cooling combo units. There is one unit per floor. P36 There are two condensers located on the west side of the building feeding these units. P37, P38 The units are working and are in good condition. There are 6 air conditioning / heating combo baseboard units in the offices on the 3^rd floor. The units are working and are in good condition. There is no gas meter serving the building. The water meter is on the east side of the building. The Rheem furnace cooling combo units listed above handle cooling. There is an abandoned AC condenser on the roof. All of the equipment is in good operating condition.
Work Safety	There are no work safety issues to report.
Space requirements	Space is very limited for storage of documents in this building. P32	Additional space has been recommended for the entire courthouse complex on the main courthouse report.	See Main Report
ADA Compliance	The magistrate court building does not have ADA parking available. There is a curb ramp in front of the entrance. P3 There are no ADA signs in the corridors or lever hardware on the doors. All bathrooms are reportedly ADA compliant. The witness stand and judge’s bench are not accessible in the magistrate’s courtroom.	Provide ADA parking, including sign and paint, at the entrance to the building. Install ADA signs throughout the building in corridors and on doors. Install ramp leading to the witness stand. Install elevator to access all levels.	$ 500 $ 4,000 $ 1,000 $120,000
Subtotal			$216,000
Soft Costs	Professional fees, permits, surveys, and studies	20%	$43,200
Total			$259,200

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