Courthouse exterior weeks from wrap-up

LOWVILLE — While the new Lewis County Courthouse has been in use since June, the exterior probably won't be completed for another few weeks.

"Hopefully, we'll be over the hill in a short period of time," said Legislator Jerry H. King, R-West Leyden, chairman of the legislative Buildings and Grounds Committee.

The recent delay in the $11.5 million project has been with the pre-cast concrete slabs, containing lettering identifying the building, on the Trinity Avenue side of the three-story structure, Legislature Chairman Jack T. Bush, R-Brantingham, said.

After the first blocks were erected about three months ago, one started showing cracks after one night, Mr. Bush said. Workers have determined that the problem, which is expected to worsen with greater temperature swings, may be rectified using slip and expansion joints, he said.

That work will be completed within three weeks as long as the weather cooperates, he said.

Workers also will need to complete installation of red bricks above the pre-cast blocks. While the initial design called for a continuation of yellow bricks from below the concrete blocks, judges and other local officials convinced designers that finishing off the building in red brick, the color used on the building's other sides, would look better, Mr. Bush said.

Contractors have been working on handrails on the entrance ramp and are to begin working Monday on a retaining wall between the new building and Lowville Academy and Central School, he said.

Some drainage work — likely requiring the removal of a tree on school property — also must be done this fall, Mr. Bush said. The county is offering to cut the tree and provide the district with saplings in the spring, with the tree to be cut into firewood and distributed to those in need through an Office for the Aging initiative, he said.

District officials seemed amenable to the plan, Mr. Bush said.

"It's really nice to have good neighbors to work with," he said, also commending the cooperation of Trinity Episcopal Church.

On Friday, the courthouse's sally port — a secure area in which patrol cars may park to drop off and pick up inmates — finally was put into service after problems with the locking mechanisms and other issues were rectified, Mr. Bush said. Sheriff's Department employees had been bringing county jail inmates in through the public entrance.

Engineers on Friday worked in the third-floor main courtroom to eliminate a bothersome noise in the heating and air-conditioning system. County Court was held in the first-floor Family Court room, instead.

A couple of heat-reclaiming fans were identified as the culprits and were shut off until they can be redesigned, Mr. Bush said. "They don't have to be on in the winter," he said.

Completion of sidewalks along Trinity Avenue and a final coat of blacktop for the building's rear parking lot may have to wait until spring, Mr. Bush said. "Weather, again, is the dictating force," he said.

Employees thus far have been unable to use the proposed 51-car lot because of the construction trailers, scaffolding and materials in it.

Meanwhile, the $2 million renovation of the old courthouse remains on track for a March completion, Mr. Bush said.

The historic structure's second and third floors, which were cleared in late June for asbestos removal and renovation, are expected to be ready for reoccupancy Nov. 10, although the conversion of the former second-floor courtroom into a Legislature chambers won't be completed then, he said.

"Hopefully, we'll have our December meeting in the new chambers," Mr. Bush said.

Offices now in the basement and first floor — code enforcement, legislators, information technology, economic development, treasurer, clerk, Civil Service, Real Property Tax Services and Veterans Services — will be moved to the upper two floors, allowing asbestos removal and renovation in the lower two to commence.

Despite the delays, the project remains within budget, Mr. Bush said.