ELYRIA — The city’s Planning Commission got a peek Tuesday into what Lorain County commissioners are hoping to accomplish with planned renovations to the old Lorain County Courthouse.
Local architect Ronald Cocco, with Clark & Post Architects in Lorain, said the project will keep the historic building exterior the same while adding safety and security features that modernize it for the county’s Adult Probation Department and pre-sentencing investigation group.
PHOTO PROVIDED
An artist’s rendering shows improvements planned for the old Lorain County Courthouse to house the county’s Adult Probation Department.
“The space inside is pretty much representative of what it was when it was the courthouse,” Cocco said. “It needs major improvements and safety and security upgrades for the employees and to accommodate visits.”
The appearance at the city’s meeting was purely for informational purposes.
Elyria city officials, who have regulations in place that hold tightly to development projects in the city, are pleased with the preliminary plans.
“It is a conceptual idea right now, but staff is in agreement to what has been proposed,” said Darryl Farkas, interim city building official.
Earlier this year, the commissioners and the county’s General Division judges signed an agreement allocating as much as $3 million toward renovations to the basement, first and second floors.
The county judges oversee the county’s Adult Probation Department and have pushed to have it consolidated on the unfinished fifth floor of the Lorain County Justice Center because it would be closer. The commissioners in turn offered up several other solutions, including staying in the old courthouse or moving into a location on Broad Street in Elyria opposed by city officials.
From complaints by the county judges about environmental issues to court orders requiring the commissioners pay for security upgrades, the feud went to the Ohio Supreme Court, which ruled against the judges in 2015 after a legal fight.
County Administrator Jim Cordes has said the work will involve cleaning and sealing the sandstone exterior of the building, constructed in the 1880s.
Cocco offered additional details Tuesday including talk of a glass vestibule at the south end of the building that will be the new main entrance. It will be handicapped-accessible.
Cocco addressed concerns by some Planning Commission members that the vestibule was not historic in design.
“It almost looks like a bus stop up against a historic building,” said Chad Schneider, commission member. “It needs a column or something to make it look like it blends into the structure.”
Cocco said there are a few approaches a design firm can take with renovations to a historic building.
“Our take is to not try to put an addition on that is a false replication of the historic building,” he said. “It’s better to treat it as a separate entity and let the historic building stand on its own.”
Additional renovations include new and redesigned sidewalks, parking areas and lawn areas with the removal of all trees from the site. It will minimize lawn and building maintenance.
Mayor Holly Brinda and Safety Service Director Mary Siwierka both said they would like to see the older trees remain in place.
“They are some large gorgeous trees on that lot, but the improvement will bring back the grandeur that building once had,” Siwierka said.
“I agree with the trees, but I am very pleased the commissioners have decided to continue to use this building,” Brinda added.
The U.S. Workers and World War II memorial monuments will stay, with improved walkways to both.
The interior will be changed to accommodate office space and allow for better control of client movement.
The post Designs presented for old courthouse’s revamp appeared first on Chronicle-Telegram.