Roof overhang causes concern for courthouse
A piece of the terra cotta eaves at the Garland County Court House recently fell through the roof of the county clerk’s office, an event the county hopes doesn’t foretell a more pervasive problem with the exterior of the historic structure.
The Garland County Quorum Court earlier this week authorized County Judge Rick Davis to issue a request for qualifications to architects interested in developing a needs study for the courthouse exterior. Davis told justices of the peace that water infiltration likely dislodged the terra cotta, which fell through the roof of what used to be the county jail but is now part of the clerk’s office.
He said a larger piece also came loose but was removed before it fell.
“We’ve got issues with the outside of the courthouse
separating and falling off,” Davis said. “Some of it’s water damage. The problem with spending the money to repair that little piece of the roof is do we have additional problems that we need to address? The next one might not fall on (the clerk’s office). It might fall on somebody on the sidewalk.”
Davis said the overhang keeps rainwater away from windows, but it mostly serves a cosmetic purpose. It was not included in the roof overhaul the courthouse underwent a few years ago. This week’s action allows the county to apply for an Arkansas Historic Preservation Program grant to fix the overhang. An earlier AHPP grant helped pay for the roof project.
Davis said water continues to get inside the Division 1 Circuit courtroom on the third floor despite its exterior being resealed several years ago. He said without a comprehensive plan, the county cannot deal proactively with the underlying causes of the water infiltration.
“The whole (overhang) has some sort of water damage,” Davis said. “It sits on the inside wall and is hooked to something back there. There’s little hooks that hold it in place. If they’re made of metal, than there’s a good chance they’ve rotted away since the early 1900s.
“The damage may be more extensive than what we think. We need a professional to tell us what the problem is. We’re just going to be patching and guessing without good information.”
Davis offered to include the JPs in the hiring process.
The courthouse was built in 1906 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. Its interior was rebuilt after it was damaged in a 1913 fire.