Court administrator cites unhealthy conditions inside courthouse

SUNBURY - In addition to structural repairs at the historic Northumberland County Courthouse, veteran court administrator Brandy Yasenchak believes heating problems at the facility have forced employees to work in an uncomfortable and unhealthy environment at times.

Yasenchak took a News-Item reporter on a tour of the courthouse Wednesday morning to illustrate some of the problem areas.

She pointed out cracks in the tile, which are slanted downward in some areas of a narrow second-floor hallway outside Courtroom No. 1, next to a stairwell leading to the third floor. Also, there are tiles that are recessing near the steps leading to the second floor, and there is ceiling and stairwell dam-

age in the foyer of Courtroom No. 1 at the front of the courthouse, which has kept the stairwell closed for several years.

The cracks in the tile on the first and second floors and the uneven floors that have surfaced during the past year concern Yasenchak the most, she said, because they indicate the building must be shifting or otherwise settling.

Those structural concerns are what county Commissioner Chairman Vinny Clausi cited last month when he expanded the county's consideration of construction of a new prison to include talk of a new courthouse, too.

The county prison was destroyed by fire Jan. 14, and Clausi has proposed building a new prison, a pre-release center and courthouse at the former Knight-Celotex plant owned by Moran Industries in Sunbury.

In the next two or three weeks, Clausi said the commissioners will make an announcement on which direction they will proceed in terms of the prison proposal. Clausi said a feasibility study by CGL Companies of Columbia, S.C., to determine the appropriate options and solutions to the prison crisis should be completed next week.

'Fire trap'

Yasenchak showed area sof the fourth-floor attic that have been damaged by water over the years and other upper sections of the courthouse, which was built in the mid-1860s.

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Court administrator cites unhealthy conditions inside courthouse