Fairfield County commissioners may look at courthouse renovation
LANCASTER – The Fairfield County commissioners have talked about a major renovation for the county courthouse at Main and High streets in the past.
The COVID-19 pandemic put a halt to the talks last year. But commissioner Dave Levacy said the commission may take up the issue again this spring or summer.
He said the building needs a new roof and that the sandstone on the exterior needs work. Levacy said the latter has to be done to preserve the building, which dates back to 1871.
“Because what happens with sandstone if it’s not preserved is it eventually turns back to sand,” Levacy said. “There may need to be some replacement of some of the sandstone. But cleaning and sealing and so forth will go a long way to make that look pretty daggone good, so to speak.”
He said the exterior will be the primary focus of the courthouse renovation.
The renovation cost was originally estimated last year was more than $6 million, which included the new roof. Levacy said that cost may be higher now, but that the county will not raise taxes to pay for it. Instead, he said it will issue debt on it.
“I think that’s important to note that,” Levacy said. “Because of the low interest rate right now this is an opportune time to be able to do this project and issue debt. But also, we look for a return on investment. In other words, over a period of several years, doing this work will pay it back. It won’t pay it all back, but it will pay a portion in savings of energy costs.”
He said the courthouse renovation would be the second part of an energy conservation project from about seven years ago where the county upgraded some buildings with LED lighting, upgraded some heating and cooling systems and replaced the windows in the courthouse.
“Some of the things we are doing and need to be done will be part of not only ongoing renovation, but also energy conservation,” Levacy said.
That includes installing an array of solar panels at the title office at the Liberty Center.
Levacy said that also includes replacing windows, installing LED lighting and upgrading the heating and cooling systems in the adjacent Hall of Justice and other county buildings.
Commissioner Steve Davis last month urged caution in spending on various items. One of those items was the courthouse renovation. Commissioner Jeff Fix also urged caution on spending. Levacy agreed, and said a new renovation estimate “could be pretty difficult to live with.”
He also said if not for the pandemic, the renovation work would have probably have started by now.
“When COVID hit we didn’t know how our finances would be impacted,” Levacy said. “It was kind of a new area that none of us had really experienced before. So consequently, we were very conservative. But again, to do this project we’re going to have to issue debt to do it.”
He said there would probably not be any grants available, expect for maybe grants for installing a solar panel.