All offices at the Richland County Courthouse at 50 Park Avenue East were closed all day Wednesday due to a water main break.
According to Traycee Davis, Richland County Law Librarian, a call was made around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday to Building Maintenance Superintendent Chuck Minich informing him of a water main break in the elected officials’ parking lot, located on the west side of the courthouse.
“The water line broke right below the grade of the street, so the parking lot filled up and water came in through the glass doors into the library,” said Davis.
Davis said approximately four to five inches of water came into the law library. Damages cannot be assessed until a clean-up crew comes in to see what needs replaced, but Davis noted multiple boxes of donated books on the floor were damaged and possibly irreplaceable. The law library is expected to remain closed for several weeks.
“It’s a mess to say the least,” she said. “And it’s a health issue because of the amount of standing water.”
Davis added the entire courthouse building was closed due to electrical concerns from water leaking through the ceiling from the second floor of the courthouse down to the first.
Linda Frary, Administrator for the Richland County Clerk of Courts of Common Pleas, said she received a call around 6:15 a.m. Wednesday from Commissioner Gary Utt advising her of the situation and that the courthouse would be closed all day.
“There was water damage to the two lower levels,” said Frary. “The lowest floor of the courthouse (the former location of the Richland County Jail and some jail offices) sustained the most water damage, but I cannot tell you the extent of the damage.”
Frary noted many records of the clerk’s office and some records of other offices are also on the second level of the courthouse along with the law library.
“Luckily, we only lost four boxes of copy paper and only three boxes of files have water damage,” said Frary. “The files were able to be preserved. I do not know the extent of damage to the records of other offices located in that area but it appears that only boxes on the floor (not up on shelving) were damaged.”
Signs posted on the doors of the courthouse stated that due to the water line break, court hearings scheduled in Jude James Henson and Judge James DeWeese’s courts were canceled on Wednesday. Court will be rescheduled as soon as possible, and anyone involed in cases should contact respective attorneys to learn of the next scheduled hearing date.
Assistant Prosecutor Brent Robinson said he was supposed to appear in court at 8:30 Wednesday morning before he learned court had been canceled. He noted that only in severe weather issues has the courthouse been closed in the past, a decision that is made by the Richland County Commissioners.
“Every day there are some attorneys at the courthouse, so (the flooding) did affect our office in that way,” he said.
Robinson confirmed all hearings scheduled for Wednesday would be continued to another day, either later this week or next week.
“There was water damage to the two lower levels,” said Frary. “The lowest floor of the courthouse (the former location of the Richland County Jail and some jail offices) sustained the most water damage,” said Linda Frary of the Richland County Clerk of Courts.
