The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
PRESERVING HISTORY
Commissioners increase budget to renovate old county courthouse
A decision to utilize the space available has led the Lorain County Board of Commissioners to increase the budget for the ongoing renovation of the old county courthouse by more than $1 million.
The historic building, 308 Second Street in Elyria, is being renovated for use as the new home of the Lorain County Adult Probation Department.
According to Lorain County Administrator James Cordes, the increase in budget is due to the protect increasing in scope.
“We absolutely were not overbudget for the work that we initially planned,” he said. “The opportunity to do a bigger job, to take the building much more into the future, presented itself and we chose to take that opportunity.”
The project will now
“The board chose to take the very long look on the utility of this building, rather than the immediacy of it.” — Lorain County Administrator James Cordes
include rebuilding the third floor of the building and extending it throughout the building, Cordes said.
“If we didn’t do it now, they wouldn’t be able to do it when the building was occupied,” he said. “They would have to do another major renovation to be able to build this floor out, because of the existing construction of the building, so that added a lot of cost.”
The additional work on the third floor also necessitates the installation of a fire suppression system that would not have been necessary with the original plan, according to Cordes.
“The board chose to take the very long look on the utility of this building,
rather than the immediacy of it,” he said.
According to Cordes, the plan also increases the parking in the area, the lot will be increased to include the left turning lane on Third Street between Court Street and Middle Avenue and work on the monuments in front of the building so they will fit better with the city’s aesthetic.
“We’re still developing a few of the things on cost, but the budget is now between $5 million and $6 million, on the high side of five,” he said.
“The original scope of work was between $3 million and $4 million.”
According to Preserving our Past: Historic Preservation, Landmark Buildings and Sites, which was published by the Lorain County Planning Commission in 1977, the old county
courthouse is actually the second old county courthouse. The original old county courthouse was built in 1828 on land owned by Heman Ely replacing a temporary structure. It was demolished in 1878 and replaced by the building we currently call the old courthouse around 1880.
According to Early Reminiscences of Elyria, Mrs. Mary Beebe Hall which bears the date 1900 on the title page, the first court held in the courthouse was in October of 1881 with Judge Hale presiding.
According to Cordes, it is important to the community to keep the building in use.
“It’s probably the most significant building in Lorain County,” he said. “You look at other communities; they’re always preserving their courthouse.”