PARIS — Oxford County commissioners have authorized a $36,000 contract with Portland-based consultant Allied Engineering to coordinate and oversee work on the exterior of the courthouse.
For several years, commissioners have been seeking to revamp and expand the courthouse.
Built in 1895, the two-story brick courthouse is home to Oxford County Superior Court, county administrative offices, the Registry of Deeds Office for the Eastern Division and the assistant district attorney’s offices.
County Administrator Scott Cole said Allied Engineering would take the project to bid and act as the county’s quality-control representative in rehabilitating the exterior of the building.
“If you eyeball the building, you can see that it’s creaky,” he said. “It’s got a slate roof that is in pretty good shape, but it needs attention. The brickwork on the building is in dire need of repointing.”
Because of the brickwork and the unique nature of the slate roof, selectmen decided to hire Allied Engineering, Cole said.
While the state is planning to revamp and overhaul the building to make it more efficient and secure, Cole said that the work on the exterior of the building “needs to be done anyways. All of that building work needed to be done, but this courthouse overhaul project by the state is sort of driving us to do the work.”
Over the past several months, Cole said, the commissioners have been reaching out to abutting landowners to negotiate land purchases to provide additional space ahead of the courthouse expansion.
Cole said the county hopes to get the work out to bid in the next several weeks and get started by late spring and into the summer of 2017.
The Oxford County commissioners voted to authorize a $36,000 fixed-cost contract with Portland-based Allied Engineering to coordinate and oversee work on the exterior of the Oxford County courthouse.
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