Monroe County Courthouse Detail Report

 

Component

Current Status

Recommendations

Cost

General Exterior

The courthouse and jail were constructed in 1881. The attached records room was built the late 1970’s.  The attached judge’s chambers section was built in the 1950’s. The building is two stories plus a basement and is approximately 17,000 square feet. The foundation is made of stone. The building is on the National Historic Register.

 

Views of the courthouse:

North P28

South P31 P32

East P33

West P30

The general exterior of the building is in good condition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exterior Walls

The exterior walls are made of brick. The brick exteriors on the additions are in good condition. The brick on the original courthouse is stained and the mortar joints are falling out. P51 P52 P53 P54 There are several cracks in the original brick exterior. P53 P54 P55 P56 Some of the brick has been stabilized recently.

We recommend cleaning and re-pointing the brick on the original courthouse.

 

See “Structure” below.

$42,000

Roof

The roof on the original section of the courthouse is moderately pitched metal and appears to be in good condition. The remaining roofs on the building are flat. They were replaced in 1995. The flat rubber roof over the clerk’s office is leaking into the records room. P15

Repair the leak over the clerk’s office.

$2,000

Windows and Doors

There are nine single paned wood windows and 10 double paned aluminum windows. The wood windows are original to the building and the aluminum windows were replaced around 1994. The aluminum windows have no corrosion or broken glass. They are in good condition.  The wood windows have some rotten wood and broken glass. P12 P13 The doors are wood and function properly. There is no weather-stripping on the doors.

Replace nine wood windows with historical sashes.

 

Install weather-stripping on the doors.

$9,000

 

$500

General Interior

The interior of the building is in good shape. There is wallpaper peeling from the walls in several locations and in the stairway. The interior of the basement is in poor condition and is small (see “Electrical” below).

We recommend removing the wallpaper and painting the walls and trim in various locations in the building and remodeling the basement for storage.

 

Paint various walls and trim.

 

Remodel the basement for storage.

 

 

 

 

$5,000

 

$75,000

Fire Safety

There is a fire alarm system for the records room but not for the courthouse. There is no sprinkler system. There are exit signs but they are not illuminated. There are emergency lights with power back up in the records room but not in the rest of the building. There are two ways out from every floor of the building. The stairs are not enclosed by fire rated walls and doors. They are free from obstructions. P40 P41 P42 The area under the stairs is being used for storage. The exit doors swing in the direction of the exits. The doors are not equipped with panic hardware.

Install fire alarm system.

 

Install a sprinkler system.

 

Install illuminated exit signs to mark emergency exits.

 

Install emergency lights with power back up.

 

Enclose the stairway with a fire rated door and wall.

 

Remove the storage from under the stairs.

 

Install panic hardware on all exit doors.

$5,000

 

$40,000

 

$1,500

 

$6,000

 

$2,500

 

 

 

$5,000

ADA Compliance

There is sufficient ADA parking for the courthouse and it is well marked. The main entrance is at ground level and is ADA compliant. P23 P22 The entrance door is somewhat difficult to open. There is raised letter signage throughout the corridors. The doors are equipped with lever hardware. There is no elevator and the second floor is not accessible. There is a unisex ADA bathroom on the first floor.  P19 P20

Install Elevator.

 

Install automatic door opener.

$120,000

 

$5,000

Structure

 

There appears to be some minor foundation movement that is showing up in the original brick.

Consult a structural engineer to determine the cause and extent of the movement.

$5,000

Security

There is a security alarm system in the building. There are no metal detectors at the entrance doors. There is a closed circuit TV system and are security cameras. The judge’s bench is protected with ballistic material and is equipped with a duress button.

Entrance to the building needs to be restricted to one entrance for the public. Install entry-level screening using a walk-through metal detector and an x-ray machine.

 

 

 

$40,000

Electrical

The building is served from a pole mounted transformer and an overhead service drop. P26 P27 The main distribution panel is a Square D, 800 amp breaker box in excellent condition. P37 The sub panels are also in excellent condition. P39 There is both fluorescent and incandescent lighting in the building which appears to be both adequate and in excellent condition.

 

The sub panels in the basement of the original courthouse are in poor condition.

Replace the electrical sub panels in the basement of the courthouse. The cost is included in “Remodel the basement for storage” in “General Interior” above.

See General Interior Above

Mechanical

The building is heated with two gas fired Burnham boilers in excellent condition. P1 P5 The County Clerk’s office is cooled by a Heil condensing unit that is in excellent condition. P14 The remainder of the building is cooled by window AC units. P57

We recommend complimenting the existing HVAC system with central air conditioning for the remainder of the building, which would eliminate the need for window AC units.

 

 

 

$200,000

Work Safety

There were no work safety issues noted during the inspection.

 

 

Space requirements

The existing courthouse does not have enough space for offices and document storage. The magistrate’s office space is rented from a fire department off site and from a veterinarian in Peterstown. They will have to provide space for the family court and a law clerk in the near future.

We recommend adding a 30,000 square feet judicial annex to house the family court, law clerk and magistrate court and prosecuting attorney. This would also relieve the congested work area and the congested document storage area in the main courthouse.

 

New 30,000 square feet Judicial Annex.

 

 

 

 

 

 

$4,350,000

Subtotal

 

 

$4,913,500

Soft Costs

Professional fees, permits, surveys, and studies

20%

$982,700

Total

 

 

$5,896,200

 

 

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