An eight-year-long journey of renovations at the Pulaski County Courthouse is well on its way to conclude this summer.
First built in 1839, the Winamac Courthouse has seen some well-loved wear and tear over the years, resulting in the need to update it to best benefit the people who use the space today. While this entails mostly interior renovations, it does include some changes to the exterior, such as reinstalling sections of the old limestone wall surrounding the property, changing out windows, and replacing the slab.
Internally, the team is working on projects such as the removal of the east and west main level entrances and the removal of the aluminum front on the original wooden doors on the north end.
Renovations were first put into motion back in 2016 – however, these plans were put on hold until recently due to a variety of factors. Things finally started to pick up speed last May when plans were finalized and construction officially began. Now the county will most likely see a new and improved courthouse space very soon.
“It’s going as smoothly as you could possibly hope for with a project of this magnitude,” said Nathan Origer, executive director of Pulaski County’s Department of Community Development. “We still feel good about the budget, and as of right now, we're still on a pretty good timeline. It's not ready to move everyone back in just yet, but the project will be substantially complete by the Fourth of July.”
While the Courthouse is a large building with many different entities, everything involving the renovations has been smooth sailing from the get-go according to Origer. Even when unexpected dilemmas arise, it has been a simple fix. This has been one of the biggest contributing factors to the quickly approaching completion date.
“In a building this big, there are obviously plenty of hiccups we've encountered along the road – we've had about 50 change orders over the course of the project. With the exception of one really big change where we had to remove and replace the entire slab instead of just doing parts of it, the total cost of the changeover quarters has been really minimal compared to the scope of the project,” Origer said.
Many have had their hand in the renovations, including the teams of Tonn and Blank, the construction management company responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the renovation project, as well as county government representatives, architects, engineering consultants, and many others.
Once complete, the renovations will allow visitors to better use and navigate the courthouse, as the space will be much more ADA compliant.
“There's a lot more attention to detail with things like the service counters and most of the individual offices, many of which the public use or interact with,” Origer said. “There’s also going to be more restrooms in the building, including on the meeting room floor, so people don't have to get the elevator all the way down to the basement to use the restroom.”
The renovations are also addressing many environmental health concerns. In previous years, water and moisture issues have appeared in the basement, resulting in mildew and related issues.
“In the basement, we’re putting in the new slab and putting a vapor barrier down, which wasn’t something that was previously done,” Origer said. “Putting a vapor barrier along the foundation walls before putting new drywall in, better insulation, better air circulation – all of that should lead to a better, healthier environment in the building for the benefit of the public and county employees.”
Additionally, the renovations will bring about more space so many county government offices can be centralized in one location. This will include Origer’s office, the Veterans Service Office, the clerk’s office, the Maintenance Department, the auditor, the semester surveyor, and the building planning and zoning department.
“Say a manufacturing company is buying some property and putting up a new facility,” Origer said. “They might have to come to my office to talk about a tax abatement, go to the building office to talk about a building permit or zoning, and they might have to go to a courthouse office if they need to split a parcel or combine parcels. Once this project is done, all those departments are going to be in one building, so the worst thing we have to do is go upstairs as opposed to going to three different buildings in three different parts of town.”
Through everyone's efforts, the courthouse is soon to be a Pulaski County hub that will help the county, and the communities within it, thrive for many more years to come.
“Long term, I think it's going to be worthwhile for Winamac and Pulaski County because it’s going to allow us to better serve the public, make downtown more attractive, and do something great,” Origer said. “Yes, it's definitely been an investment, but it's a very worthy investment. It's going to have great payoffs once everything's done and completed.”
For more information and to stay up-to-date as the Courthouse renovations near completion, visit pulaskicounty.net.
