Window replacement begins with study – Ottumwacourier

OTTUMWA Andrew Birch, building maintenance manager at Wapello County Courthouse, promised to take contractors to the dreaded fifth floor Wednesday to see how bad the windows are.

Douglas J. Steinmetz, an architect out of Cedar Rapids, and Victor Amoroso Jr., president of A and J Associates consulting firm, examined windows at the courthouse, inside and out, and took copious notes for a project years in the making.

In March, the county board agreed to have Supervisor Chairman Jerry Parker contact Amoroso for advice on replacing the windows. Because the building is on the National Register of Historic Places, there are certain things we can and cannot do, Parker told the board.

I think its a timely project, said Steinmetz Wednesday. These windows have served their purpose.

Steinmetz estimates that the current windows were installed in the 1970s. [They] dont reflect the character of the building at all, he said. The goal of the project is to give the courthouse windows that will reflect the character of the building and still be energy efficient.

Steinmetz said the contractor will attempt to keep the new windows historically accurate. Fortunately we have drawings of the original building, he said. The drawings and photos will be used as a reference and will be the basis of design of the new windows, he said.

The project will not require any additional money from taxpayers. Weve been saving every year out of our sales tax money, said Parker.

Supervisors contracted with A and J Associates in March to prepare a study that would address the historical requirements of the window replacement, grant options or other financial incentives for historic preservation, window options, lead time for the windows and estimates of construction costs.

A and J Associates is in charge of the specifications; Steinmetz makes sure the designs meet the standards of the Secretary of the Interior for historic buildings.

We want to retain as much historic fabric as we can, Steinmetz said as he examined the windows.

Amoroso said the contractor will try to get the windows back to historic relevance. He thinks the study will be finished in a month or so, and then the designing process will begin.

Amoroso hopes the project will be out for bids in the fall. That will allow the windows to be manufactured over the winter months.

Steinmetz estimated that making the windows would take about three months. The windows would be installed when the weather allows in the spring of 2018, Amoroso said.

Parker said the county has more than $700,000 in sales tax money available for capital projects. Weve been able to accumulate it every year. Thats an accumulation from just 25 percent of the sales tax. The other 75 percent of the sales tax is earmarked for other uses.

Parker said the county has kept the cost of capital improvements low enough to save part of the money each year; that means the county wont have to levy more taxes or pass a bond issue and pay interest.

Parker doesnt know how much the windows will cost, but he said, Wouldnt surprise me if they [were] half a million."

Reporter Winona Whitaker can be contacted at wwhitaker@ottumwacourier.com and followed on Twitter @courierwinona.

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Window replacement begins with study - Ottumwacourier