Work is expected begin soon on a more than $2 million project to repair the deteriorating retaining walls around the Centre County Courthouse, county Administrator John Franek said this week.
“We are in the midst of design review,” Franek said during the county Board of Commissioners meeting on Tuesday. “We met on-site last week to walk the property to make the final locations for fencing that will go around the property as part of that project.”
Once the final schematics are completed, the county will apply for construction permits from the Centre Region Code Administration.
The retaining walls on the northeast and southeast sides of the courthouse property date back to at least 1900 and are in dire need of repair, county officials have said. Consultant CMT Labs found the northeast wall particularly needs to be addressed within 12 months.
Commissioners voted in May to approve a $2.14 million design/build contract for the project with JG Contracting Company, Inc., of Carnegie.
The repair is expected to involve installing tiebacks then demolishing the existing wall. It will then be replaced with a layer of shotcrete, a sprayed concrete, and an outer layer of cast-in-place concrete that will decrease the risk of mineral leaching and will have an aesthetically pleasing stone stamping and coloration, Franek said at the time.
Commissioners in April approved a contract totaling $209,170 with Massaro Construction Management Services to oversee what will be a complex project, given the narrow streets next to the retaining walls and need to maintain court operations.
Franek said this week that it’s expected most operations will be able to remain in the courthouse during what will be a two-phase project, though some may temporarily relocate across East High Street.
“I think right now the thinking is that we can shift operations within the courthouse to the opposite side of the building while work is being performed on the other side, and possibly have some court activity migrated across the street to the courthouse annex,” Franek said.
