More roofing issues for Scott County Courthouse

BENTON, Mo. -- Last year it was the north wing. This year it's the south.

Scott County commissioners said during their regular meeting Tuesday they don't know how much it will cost to repair the roof over the south wing of the Scott County Courthouse.

"The roofers are drilling, getting a core sample to see what is going to be involved as far as removing and replacing the existing roof," Commissioner Donnie Kiefer said.

Repairs are needed because of a leak in the southwest corner of that section of the roof.

Commissioner Dennis Ziegenhorn said rebuilding the roof over the north wing, which was completed last summer, cost more than $70,000.

"When you look at the other side, what we did over there, it really makes a big difference," Ziegenhorn said. "The first roof was built 100 years ago; it was concrete."

Work is a matter of peeling back roof layers added over the top of the original roof throughout the years to see how bad the damage is "and so we'll be able to tell everybody what they're bidding on," Ziegenhorn said.

At one point in the building's history, a railroad trestle was dismantled and the timber from it was used to build another roof layer a foot or so above the concrete roof, recalled Todd Heisserer of Drury Company. Atop that someone built the flat tar roof that is the top layer.

Heisserer said it looks like the best solution may be to tear out all extraneous roof layers and build a slightly graded rubber surface that will move water to drains at the edge of the roof.

The result would be 18 to 24 inches lower than the current roof.

"And it will get rid of a lot of unnecessary weight, and the termite problem," Kiefer said.

Pertinent address:

Benton, MO