The county must make more than $100,000 in structural repairs on the courthouse dome before moving forward with plans to renovate the entire roof.

McLennan County commissioners voted Tuesday to spend $105,580 to replace rotting wood in the courthouse dome that apparently was damaged decades ago in a small fire.

The county hired a structural engineer to examine the dome after Johnson Roofing, the company contracted in June to repair and waterproof the entire roof, expressed concerns that the dome was too weak to support scaffolding.

District Judge Matt Johnson, a McLennan County history buff, said the courthouse master renovation plan notes that the fire damage was discovered in the 1950s or 1960s and indicated that a fire had started and snuffed itself out some years earlier.

Kyle Smith of Bilt Rite Scaffolding out of Austin walks around one of the statues near the dome of the McLennan County Courthouse in this file image.
Rod Aydelotte / Tribune-Herald, file art

Bill Johnson, owner of Johnson Roofing, said while some of the beams appear to have been replaced, heavy pipes and air conditioning ducts were suspended from rafters connected to the dome roof, adding more weight and stress to the damaged wood.

County maintenance director Sam Sykora said his department has performed routine inspections of the roof. However, the damaged area of the dome is only accessible by a crane and is generally unreachable.

The cost of replacing the damaged wood is in addition to the $715,000 roofing contract the county awarded to Johnson Roofing in June.

Commissioner Ray Meadows abstained from voting on the issue.

“This whole thing hasn’t been planned very well,” Meadows said after the meeting. “I want full disclosure on everything that has to be done (to the roof) . . . and until I get more information on this thing, I’ll either vote ‘no’ or abstain from voting on whatever comes up.”

Johnson said the work will take about four weeks to complete if there are no additional problems or weather complications.

State landmark

Any work on the courthouse roof falls under the review of the Texas Historical Commission because the 108-year-old courthouse is registered as a state archaeological landmark.

Bess Graham, architect and project reviewer for the historical commission, told the commissioners court Tuesday that the county needed to apply for an antiquities permit before proceeding with the dome repairs.

The commission normally has up to 60 days to review permit applications before making a decision. Graham said this project may warrant a quicker turnaround, provided that the county’s application thoroughly covers the scope of the dome work.

“There are exceptions for emergency situations, which we do believe the structural work would fall under,” Graham said. “We are going to expedite it so that the work can begin as quickly as possible.”

A team of county staff members worked with Johnson Roofing and Graham to complete the permit application Tuesday. Graham said barring any complications or additional concerns from historical commission directors, the permit could be approved within a few days.

The dome repairs add to the increasing costs for the roof project.

The county is scrambling to meet the historical commission’s demands for a full historical roof restoration to preserve the dome, statuary and decorative ornaments on the roof.

In other action, the commissioners court voted to lift the countywide burn ban Tuesday.

rdennis@wacotrib.com

757-5755

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