photo by: Journal-World

The west side of the Douglas County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St.

County leaders will soon decide whether to pursue a repair project for the historic Douglas County Courthouse as the building contends with flooding and other issues.

As part of its meeting Wednesday, the Douglas County Commission will decide whether to authorize county staff to begin the process to select a professional design firm for the project. The project will include waterproofing the courthouse’s limestone basement and potentially other masonry repairs.

During a discussion of the county’s long-term plans for all its facilities as part of a study session in September, county leaders said they wanted to prioritize delayed plans for masonry work on the courthouse, which included addressing “significant water infiltration issues” in the basement, as the Journal-World previously reported. The study session was held to help inform preparations for the county’s 2023 budget as well as longer-range planning for potentially expanding or renovating the county’s three downtown buildings: the historic county courthouse, the Judicial and Law Enforcement Center and the currently vacant old public works building. County leaders said that masonry work had been completed on the west side of the courthouse about 15 years ago, but that plans to complete the rest of the work had been delayed.

The courthouse is listed on the State and National Register of Historic Places, and a county staff memo states that all work on the structure must comply with standards for historic properties and be coordinated through the Kansas State Historic Preservation Offices for compliance. The construction delivery method for the project will be traditional design, bid, build as required for tax credit and grant qualification. Director of Capital Projects Jay Zimmerschied previously told the commission that based on recent conversations with engineers, waterproofing the courthouse’s lower level would involve deconstructing the two stairways on the outside of the building, digging down around the building to do the waterproofing, then reconstructing the steps.

At this point, county spokesperson Karrey Britt said there is no estimate for what the repair work will cost. Britt said the firm that is chosen will define the scope of the work and provide cost estimates to assist the county in final project budgeting. In addition to the waterproofing, she said, the project may or may not include masonry work on the exterior. Should the county vote to move forward with the procurement process, Britt said the selection of a firm would be brought back to the County Commission before moving forward.

The Douglas County Commission will convene at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the county courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St. Residents can participate in the meeting in person, virtually or via phone, and more information about those options is available at douglascountyks.org/commission/meetings.