Repairs at Coles County Courthouse to resume in spring

Cassie Buchman, City Editor

Tuck-pointing repairs on the Coles County Courthouse are currently being put on hold because of the weather.

The company, Western Construction Group, in Springfield, began the project in September 2014.

Tuck-pointing consists of using two different colors of mortar in the bricks, with one that matches the bricks, to make it look like fine joints have been put on the building.

It is the replacement and extraction of old mortar with new mortar.

According to the JG-TC, there have been other projects done at the courthouse over the last few years.

These projects were aimed at ending problems such as the long-term water damage that occurred at the courthouse.

The tuck-pointing was done on the stone arch bridges on Sixth, Seventh and Ninth streets.

Local stonemason Alexander Briggs originally built these bridges during the 1890s.

In 2001, the stone arch bridges were added to the National Register of Historic Places.

They are the only stone arch bridges inside the city of Charleston.

The tuck-pointing is to be done on two of the three bridges.

Elaine Komada, administrative assistant of the Coles County Board, said the board hired an architect to inspect and evaluate the condition of the masonry structure of the courthouse.

The architect was the one who recommended the tuck-pointing project.

“The project was bid out and the county awarded this project to the lowest bidder,” Komada said in an email.

The lowest bidder ended up being the Western Waterproofing Company; the amount of the bid was $339,500.

This was not the first time that work on the Coles County Courthouse has been delayed.

Also according to the JG-TC, the tuck-pointing project was formerly delayed because of difficulty with finding the kind of mortar the project called for.   


Cassie Buchman can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].