Cape Girardeau County's courthouses present daily challenges to staff

The county court system has finally outgrown buildings that have housed operations since before the Civil War. While they've considered upgrades, moving to a new building and building a new facility, county officials haven't found a solution.

The Common Pleas Courthouse in Cape Girardeau, built in 1854, sits atop a hill overlooking Spanish Street and is one of the most recognizable buildings in Cape Girardeau County. Despite its rich history, the building presents daily challenges for those working in the courthouse.

Circuit Clerk Patti Wibbenmeyer has worked in the Common Pleas Courthouse for 30 years and said the crowded, narrow hallways have always been a problem. As the caseload for the court system increases, that tight squeeze presents even more issues.

The court hears between 40 and 50 adult abuse cases every Thursday morning, she said. Because there is no waiting room for the parties, opposing sides of a case will often have to stand close to each other as they wait to see a judge, creating conflict. She said it is also not uncommon for arguments between groups of people to ensue during the wait.

"It's just new people to fight with. Often we get new adult abuse cases filed about someone they just met in the hall," she said.

Common Pleas Courthouse in Cape Girardeau (Fred Lynch)

Wibbenmeyer said it's not just the lack of waiting area for litigants, attorneys and jurors -- the building doesn't have enough bathrooms or storage, either.

More cases mean more paperwork, and she said every available inch of the building is holding case files, even if it's in the damp basement -- a less-than-ideal spot for document storage.

Wibbenmeyer said in addition to the space restraints, there are day-to-day problems. Technicians are frequently called to repair the heating and air conditioning system. Earlier this week the courthouse didn't have heat, making the rooms "pretty chilly," she said.

Don McQuade, county building supervisor, said every day brings a new maintenance issue with the courthouses. In the Cape Girardeau County Courthouse in Jackson, which was built in 1908, heating and cooling repairs are also common and the roof needs to be replaced later this year.

Last summer the elevator shaft was replaced due to a law requiring new shafts in buildings built before 1967, and crews started repairs to some of the mortar and masonry under the courthouse dome.

"It's always something," he said.

Technological issues

McQuade said one of the biggest challenges is implementing 21st-century technology in buildings that are more than 100 years old.

"It can be done, anything can be done, but it's much harder to accomplish," he said.

Eric McGowen, county IT director, works with McQuade to solve some of the challenges.

"The majority of the technology issues we have with our historic courthouses are caused solely by the age and layout of the buildings," McGowen said.

He said communications cabling requires some creative solutions to connect point A to point B, and is usually substantially more labor-intensive when compared to a modern building.

In addition to the challenges posed by the aging structures, he said the hilltop locations of each courthouse combined with the age of the electrical wiring for the buildings, makes guarding against lightning storms and power surges difficult.

Commissioner Paul Koeper, a civil engineer with Penzel Construction before taking office, said some problems with the courthouses can't be solved with creative thinking.

He said while he is developing a security plan for the Jackson courthouse that is workable, he doesn't think the Common Pleas Courthouse will ever have a good, functional security plan. He cites the narrow halls and the location of the entrances as two obstacles.

He also said that although the Jackson courthouse is fairly accessible to the disabled, getting an elevator in the Common Pleas Courthouse would be a major, expensive project.

Neither courthouse is earthquake-resistant, a serious concern for an area in a fault zone. He said trying to upgrade existing facilities to meet earthquake-resistance standards is difficult and costly.

He said there is enough money to meet the most pressing of needs but that the major projects will require millions of dollars.

"Have you really accomplished anything by upgrading a building that's not really fit for, what I say, are everyday needs? A hundred years ago it may have worked, but now we have more courts, more laws," he said.

Potential solutions

The county has been considering purchasing the old federal building in Cape Girardeau to replace the Common Pleas Courthouse, but Koeper said the federal building, built in 1967, has its own issues.

"The roof needs to be replaced. It's past its lifetime. It's leaking some now," he said.

He said there are many other problems with the building. The carpets, which Koeper believes to be original to the building, are stained, torn or coming up. The bathrooms do not meet standards for accessibility and have some plumbing issues. One of the building's three boilers is not functional and there are problems with heating and air-conditioning controls, drafty windows and masonry.

The Federal Building in Cape Girardeau (Fred Lynch)

The building would also require some interior work to make it better suited to a county courthouse. Koeper said there are many small offices around the building and that one of the courtrooms is too large for the county's needs.

Koeper also has concerns with the building's earthquake resistance. He said the idea behind resistance is that a structure needs flexibility or movement during a quake. The federal building was constructed with concrete and is tight in design, he said, meaning it does not move.

Still, even with the issues and concerns associated with the federal building, Koeper said, it's better suited for the county's current needs than the Common Pleas Courthouse.

Koeper said there is no overnight solution to the county's courthouse situation. He said he would like to have a plan, whether it be to purchase the federal building, build a new courthouse in several years or something entirely different, in a few months.

cbartholomew@semissourian.com

243-8600

Pertinent address:

44 N. Lorimier St., Cape Girardeau, MO

100 Court St., Jackson, MO

339 Broadway, Cape Girardeau, MO