MONROE — Despite some costly surprises as the work progresses, county officials say they are on track to complete a major renovation to the iconic courthouse downtown, likely in early 2023.
That’s according to County Board Chairman Jerry Guth, who this week sought to clarify how the project has changed in recent months and how officials have adapted financially during the years-long process. The building, a centerpiece of downtown Monroe, remains shrouded in scaffolding and construction equipment but officials say that could come down for good in 2023, depending on how the county board decides to proceed on additional work.
Next up for the project is work on the tower with its bold clock face. That should start in June, said Dick Marti, building supervisor for Green County.
“The metal steeple will be lifted off and the concrete base underneath removed and replaced,” he said, adding that the clock face and hands also will be refurbished.
According to Guth, the original contract for the courthouse restoration project was priced at just under $1.8 million. But once work got underway, problems with the masonry holding the structure together were found that would “compromise the integrity” of the roof replacement.
“At its November 9, 2021 meeting, the Green County Board of Supervisors approved change orders to the original contract not to exceed $1 million,” said Guth. “But more problems were anticipated as work progressed around the building.”
As a result, at its February 2022 meeting, the board approved change orders totaling $852,876.43. Finally, at its April 2022 meeting, the Board approved four more change orders totaling $396,500.
“This last round of change orders basically used up the remaining funding from the previous bond,” issue, Guth said.
However, problems with the clock tower portion of the building remained and those previous change orders did not address that part of the project, officials said. After an engineering study, those repairs were estimated at $2.7 million. And so the board — at its May 10, 2022 meeting — authorized borrowing up to about $5.82 million for both the courthouse tower and Justice Center renovation projects.
“The Board then moved to immediately borrow $3,090,000 to continue the courthouse restoration project,” Guth said. “All of these change orders were determined by our corporation counsel to be within the scope of the original contract.”
Finally, according to Guth, there are two other courthouse related projects that “do not fall within the scope of the original contract.”
Those include work to cut, point and power wash the remainder of the building not under the original contract — with a price tag of roughly $1.7 million. A second project — to restore the porches and steps leading up to the courthouse entrances — is estimated to cost $1.3 million.
That additional work will be considered by the full county board and would likely make the project stretch into 2023; while the bulk of the original work will likely be complete this year.
“It’s an important building and I’ve put my heart into it,” said Marti, adding that dozens of county and contracted workers also are involved in the renovation.
