Project to take elevator down

By Barry Porterfield

What goes up must come down is a concept that definitely applies to an elevator project at the Garvin County Courthouse in Pauls Valley.

With plans to build a new elevator on the outside which connects to each floor, county officials this week finalized a bid that will result in the removal of the old elevator to create a more open rotunda look in the county facility, which stretches up four stories.

“We’ll have to have the new one operating before we can demo the old one,” County Clerk Gina Mann said.

The new elevator on the north side of the courthouse is expected to be operational at some point in late December.

Within a matter of days after the new one gets rolling, work to remove the existing elevator will begin.

Commissioners accepted a bid of a little more than $230,700 to demolish the old elevator. The contractor for a larger renovation project, Lippert Brothers of Oklahoma City, was able to cut its price for the demoition work since its crews are already set up at the facility.

Lippert’s original bid of more than $300,000 for the elevator demolition also dropped mostly because a skylight won’t be a part of the project.

“The architect encouraged us not to put in a skylight and spend the $75,000 elsewhere,” Mann said.

Once the old elevator is removed plans are to place wood handrails around the remaining space on the upper floors.

“It’s just open but with a handrail around it,” she said, referring to the area that will be created with the elevator’s removal.

Workers are expected to begin building temporary walls around the old elevator in early January with the actual demolition work to begin later that same month.

When the elevator work is completed, the next phase of the project is on a new roof for the courthouse. That work is to begin in February, Mann said.

“The roof will fall into place after they do the demo on the old elevator.”

It’s been several weeks since work began on other parts of the large courthouse renovation project which includes more than just the new elevator and roof.

With a price tag of around $1.5 million, the project is being paid for by half of a county sales tax approved by voters in 2007.

The remaining list of improvements includes upgrades to the building’s plumbing and electrical systems, a new boiler, restrooms on the second and third floors, and the heating and air conditioning system on the second floor with the other levels, along with a handful of smaller parts of the overall project, to be addressed in the future when additional tax funding is available. Work on this phase of the renovation is expected to be wrapped up in April.

At some point officials are looking to start a second phase, which will include a series of improvements to the courthouse’s handicap accessibility. Those improvements are to include restrooms, counters, parking, curbs and the courtrooms.

A $190,000 grant has already been approved for the project, matched by that same amount in county sales tax funds.