Elevator Repairs Moving Ahead at Pulaski County Courthouse, Annex Building

Two Pulaski County government buildings should once again have working elevators next week. “The motor for the county annex building was in their shop and repaired last Tuesday, and the motor for the courthouse elevator will be in this Thursday,” Maintenance Supervisor Jeff Johnston told the county commissioners Monday. “So by the middle of next week, both of them will be up and running.”

The lack of an elevator has led to accessibility issues at the courthouse, causing Circuit Judge Michael Shurn to conduct court hearings in the basement, in some cases. The courthouse elevator is set to be taken out of service again this fall, for a complete replacement.

Meanwhile, the Annex Building is also getting its roof repaired this week, after fifty holes were found. Johnston said the roof work will let the county proceed with other upgrades at the building, but some bees who’ve taken up residence in the roof may lose their homes. “They’re going to spray that coating right over where it’s open, seal it all up,” Johnston explained. “They’re going to do the flat roof. The way they do it, they spray it so far up the sides, so it creates kind of a tub. Once it hardens, it’s just like plastic and nothing’s going to get through it. And they’re going to do the soffit around the sides, the lower flat roof, and then the small roof on the entrance to the building, so there will be no water.”

Johnton also told the commissioners that he’s begun measuring the county offices, so he can start working on a seven-year interior renovation plan.