By Gary Ogle
gogle@wbcowqel.com
Crawford County commissioners are hoping to buy a dry courthouse as well as a little time for the roof on the historic structure for about $45,000.
“It’s not a fix,” Commissioner Doug Weisenauer said. “It’s a Band-Aid.”
Architect Bruce Heinlen shared the latest plans on Wednesday for the leaky roof. The packet he provided commissioners contained photos of the most worrisome areas of the roof that would be addressed.
“”These aren’t all the conditions, but they are somewhat typical of what’s up there,” Heinlen said. “Some of those pictures probably don’t so it real justice.”
Heinlen said couldn’t be more detailed until he got underneath some of the more serious problem areas, something he was avoiding until commissioners were near ready to proceed with work. Heinlen said he didn’t want to exacerbate the problem anymore than necessary.
“It’s hard to put an estimate together until you get up there and tear stuff apart to see what needs to be done,” Wesienauer said.
Heinlen called the latest proposal “effective maintenance.”
When Weisenauer asked if the patch job would stop the leaks, Heinlen replied, “I’m hopeful it will stop 99 percent of them.”
Heinlen said he believed the proposed patch would give the commissioners a couple of more winters in which to find funding for an entire renovation project estimated at a cost of over $1 million. The last time the commissioners met on the subject of the leaky roof they determined there would be no funding aid coming from the state of other similar sources.
Heinlen’s rough estimate for the temporary work is for $45,000. Commissioner Steve Reinhard said he hopes the project can begin by early summer, but that is dependent on whether they can legally proceed with a simple bid of time and materials from contractors.