MIAMI COUNTY — On Tuesday, the Board of Miami County Commissioners approved the restoration of the third floor courtroom dome at the Miami County Courthouse that was damaged during the Jan. 11 tornado.
The commissioners accepted a quote from Franklin Art Glass Studios of Columbus and authorized the company to restore the dome, which houses a tiered stained glass design that is 124 inches in diameter. The cost of the restoration project is not to exceed $28,790.
According to the staff report, two of the panels in the dome shifted out of the frame pockets during the Jan. 11 tornado. The county was planning on restoring the dome during a future renovation project to be identified by a courthouse evaluation currently being performed by Garmann Miller Architects, but the commissioners moved this project up as an immediate need to be addressed at the recommendation of a local glass company that inspected the structure following the storm. There is currently a tarp covering approximately 20-30 seats in that courtroom that cannot be used due to being underneath the damaged dome.
Director Chris Johnson of the Facilities and Operations Department said several local companies sub-contract this work to Franklin Art Glass Studios, so the county went straight to this company. The scope of the work includes “removing the dome panels, creating a labeling chart of each panel location, transporting panels to Franklin Art Glass Studios for releading and final restoration of each panel to new condition, and then returning each to their original pockets in the dome using a specialiazed caulk material,” according to the staff report.
Also during their meeting, the commissioners authorized Merit Mechanical of New Bremen to replace chilled water lines in the courthouse. The cost is not to exceed $20,250. The project will include replacing approximately 100 feet of piping, specifically 50 feet of supply piping, and 50 feet of return piping, as well as the replacement of associated valves and other associated materials. Johnson noted Merit Mechanical’s bid was lower than the other bids for the project — which included $32,228 from MSD of Dayton and $37,193 of Waibel Energy Systems of Vandalia — due to Merit Mechanical already being a sub-contractor on the courthouse plaza improvement project, which has allowed them to understand the access they would have to those chilled pipes.
“They are down there doing work now on other piping,” Johnson said. He also noted it was necessary to get those chilled pipes in place prior to April due to those being used to cool the Miami County Safety Building.
The commissioners authorized the replacement of the Harrison Street Bridge No. 00.17 and the Markley Road Bridge No. 2.10. They set the bid date to receive bids for prestressed concrete beams for the bridge projects as March 5. Miami County Engineer Paul Huelskamp said the county appreciates the county residents’ continued support of the county’s five-year bridge levy, which will be up for renewal next year.
The commissioners also opened bids for two projects during their meeting, the County Road 25-A resurfacing project and the Bellefontaine Road resurfacing project.
The County Road 25-A resurfacing project will resurfacing the road from Piqua’s north corporation limit to the Miami County and Shelby County line. The bids received included a bid of $341,252 from John R. Jurgensen Company of Springfield and a bid of $377,360.50 from Barrett Paving Materials, Inc. of Middletown. The engineer’s estimate for this project was $480,235.
The resurfacing of Bellefontaine Road will be from the Montgomery County line to the Clark County line. The bids for this project included a bid of $146,211 from John R. Jurgenson Company; a bid of $157,828 from Barrett Paving Materials; and a bid of $163,763.40 from Wagner Paving, Inc. of Laura. The engineer’s estimate for this project was $155,995.
