Work is expected to begin this summer to restore the deteriorating retaining walls alongside the Centre County Courthouse following a contract approval by the Board of Commissioners on Tuesday.
Commissioners on Tuesday voted 2-1 to approve a $2.14 million design/build contract for the project with JG Contracting Company, Inc., of Carnegie, pending solicitor review. Board Chair Mark Higgins and Vice-chair Amber Concepcion voted yes and Commissioner Steve Dershem voted no.
The retaining walls date back to at least 1900, Higgins said, and are in dire need of repair. Consultant CMT Labs found the wall on the northeast side of the courthouse particularly needed to be addressed within 12 months.
“Unfortunately things wear out,” Higgins said. “You need to do upgrades, you need to fix things. We’re told that this is a borderline emergency situation and the side we’re working on first really needs to be fixed by this fall because we don’t want the street collapsing into the side of the courthouse.”
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, County Administrator John Franek said.
Work will take place in two phases over the next year. 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.
“The logistics on this project are going to be significant,” Franek said in April. “This will not be a part-time gig. We will need someone there in a full-time capacity.”
How Centre County court will be impacted during the construction remains to be determined. Franek said the county has been in discussions with court personnel about how to handle disruptions.
“…It may involve a shifting of the courts to the opposite side of the building that they are working on and some activities may be moved over to the … Courthouse Annex building across the street,” Franek said. “There are also discussions about potentially having court held at an off-site location. Once we have a full plan of attack from the contractor we will be informing the courts as far as what their scheduling may be required there.”
