McDonough County received nearly $5.4 million from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Much of that money will be spent on repairs to the courthouse.
“With a building of this age, we think it’s still in very good shape, (but) it’s at a critical time where some timely maintenance needs to be done,” said Michael Fries, an architect with Klingner and Associates, which completed a feasibility study of the building.
The repairs will be done to the courthouse’s exterior. The first phase includes tuckpointing the entire building, plus completing work on the chimney, the clocktower, and the gutters and downspouts.
Fries believes they can get the bids out in a month and complete the phase one work this year.
The second phase of repairs could be done next year, and will focus on the courthouse’s foundation and its entrances.
There are no plans right now to work on the building’s interior.
The McDonough County Courthouse was completed in 1872 at a cost of $155,000. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places.
“The residents of McDonough County have a great building treasure here,” said Fries.
“I personally love working on old buildings. It’s amazing to see how things were constructed over 100 years ago, and how we can fix those and make these buildings last for several more generations.”
Fries said the repairs “will not disrupt the historic aspect of the building.” However, work crews will reduce the height of the chimney. He said it doesn’t need to be so tall anymore now that a gas-fired boiler is used for the building instead of coal.
He said Klingner and Associates has worked on other county courthouses in Illinois and Missouri, including the Knox County Courthouse in Galesburg.
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