Huron County Courthouse

Project Description:
A courthouse by nature and location is a prominent structure in any city. The seat of government for Huron County, is a dominant presence in the city of Norwalk, Ohio. Four stories in height with a copper-domed clock tower has quite a history “etched in stone”. Interior walls date from the 1837 construction, an 1881 renovation, massive destruction from the 1912 fire, reconstruction completed in 1915 combined with weather and age factors equated a public building in dire need of attentionl.

Project Execution:
This project involved the historical preservation of the Huron County Courthouse in Norwalk, Ohio. The courthouse consisted of 28,000 square feet of Ohio Berea Sandstone. All elevations of the sandstone structure were deteriorated due to weather factors and age. The flat roof of the building needed replaced. The copper dome, along with the stone water table, was beyond repair. All of the wood windows as well as the bell tower clock faces were showing major signs of deterioration.

Midwest Maintenance, Inc. provided the craftsmen’s viewpoint, which assisted Historical Design Group, Inc. architect, and County Commissioners with development of a Two-Phase, two-year project accomplishing the desired goals at considerable cost savings to the tax-payers.

Twenty years as a restoration specialist at this point provided the expertise to coordinate such a complex project. Commissioners, architects, roofing subcontractor, public officials, courthouse staff, general public, materials suppliers, and Mother Nature all had input on how the work would be accomplished. Since this was a two-phase project, everything was done twice.

Summary:
Why is this project special? Everything on the project was a specialty trade: the historic stone restoration, massive amounts of copper fabrication, detailed cleaning of the sandstone, to name only a few. We took great pride in restoring the Huron County Courthouse, knowing that the commissioners got exactly what they were looking for, another 100 years of beauty.

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Awards:
Associated Builders and Contractors Regional Award of Excellence

Associated Builders and Contractors National Award of Merit