Chillicothe — The Ross County Commissioners have been planning to have work done to the outside of the Ross County Courthouse, and they got their first report Monday. It was mostly good, though a little more costly than expected.
Architect Brian Kiggins and project manager Kalpa Baghasingh of Schooley Caldwell gave an overview of what they found in the exterior of the courthouse, as well as the County Archives (the old jail and sheriff’s residence) behind it on Main Street.
The firm of Schooley Caldwell is a nationally renown group of architects, interior designers, and planners, who also specialize in historic preservation. Their workin Chillicothe includes the Carlisle Building and addition to the Majestic Theatre, a replacement Hocking Hills State Park Lodge in Logan County, and the Ohio Statehouse and Annex (as well as Minnesota, Utah, and Kansas statehouses) and many other new and old projects in their headquarters of Columbus.
One of the main issues, and ironically a minor problem, is the unsightly moisture damage to the bases of the columns in the center front of the courthouse.
They said that overall both buildings are in good shape. Both roofs are at the end of their lifespans and need to be replaced with stronger materials. They recommend restoring anything original like doors and windows, and replacing anything newer with something safer, more energy efficient, and better-looking. They also suggested replacing some window glass with energy-efficient sealed double-paned glass units, but that needs more investigation.
The County Archives needs more work, with paint stripped off the brick, variously altered windows and doors restored, and exposed metal conserved like the roof cresting and bridge to the courthouse – and even the fountain worked on.
The county had interior courthouse renovations done a few years ago, including HVAC – and before that, about $1M worth of exterior work done about 2004, including a reproduction cupola.
The commissioners had originally hoped for a $4M budget. But Schooley Caldwell’s analysis is for about $5.5M for the courthouse, and about $2M for the Archives. “Soft costs” like design and management make a total of about $8M.
Architect Brian Kiggins said the work is absolutely worth it. “It would cost a thousand times that to rebuild it in this style, this character. You could do it, but it would not be cheap. You could tear it down and you could put up a modern building for 20 million, ten-twenty million maybe, but it wouldn’t have the character and the historical value that this current building has.”
Hear them in their own words in the video interview, as well as see excerpts from their 13-page presentation to the county commissioners, below.
