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Paul Andrew Sgroi, an associate at Bernardon who administered the courthouse contract acting as the project manager for the job, said the projects were designed to consider the experience people have when they visit West Chester, work in West Chester or if they live in West Chester.
"(The projects) had to understand the history of the town and the sites and what architecture could create to enhance the experience of West Chester," Sgroi said.
The challenging courthouse restoration was recently recognized by the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia who honored Bernardon Haber Holloway with its 2005 Grand Jury Project Award.
The alliance actively promotes the appreciation, protection and revitalization of the Philadelphia region’s historic buildings, communities and landscapes.
Also recognized for the project were the commissioners of Chester County; Frens and Frens of West Chester, consulting restoration architects; and J.S. Cornell & Son of Philadelphia, construction manager.
Chester County Commissioner Andrew E. Dinniman worked on the project with the current Board of Commissioners as well as the past board. Dinniman said he and his colleagues wanted a historic, accurate restoration of the courthouse, one that would do justice to a building that symbolizes government for the people of Chester County.
"It was a great collaboration, ourselves, Frens & Frens and Cornell -- there are not always opportunities to work together closely and develop solutions as a team," Sgroi said, noting he "walked away with a wonderful sense of achievement" to be a part of the restoration of a building as significant as the Chester County Courthouse.
With such a sensitive project, Sgroi acknowledges there were some challenges along the way.
The begin with, "the methods of construction used then are not used anymore," Sgroi said.
Further, some of the repairs done over the last more than 100 years did not honor the integrity of the historic building. As a result, the repairs had to be undone and the damaged areas restored.
For example, the early sand-paint finishes on the courthouse’s cast iron portico columns had been repainted many times throughout the years. Sgroi said when the layers of paint were stripped away, he was actually surprised to see what the columns looked like originally.
Sgroi said it was Dale Frens who researched the restoration techniques used on the columns at Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson, in order to outline the technique needed to recreate the original look of the courthouse columns.
The iron columns needed to appear as if they were stone. To accomplish that, the columns were painted then sand was blown over the wet paint. Then the process was repeated.
The other challenge was cleaning the structure’s stone walls.
"In 150 years, they can become pretty dirty," Sgroi said, crediting Frens with developing a process to carefully clean the stone.
The courthouse renovations were completed in June 2004.
Four months later, ground was broken for a seven-level parking garage in the 200 block of West Market Street. The 500-space, $11 million garage with a transit center on the ground floor is expected to be completed in August.
Across Market Street will be the seven-story justice center to be built on the site of the former Dague Building. Plans call for 375,000 square feet of space inside, which will include 18 courtrooms. The project’s cost is $80 million. The project is expected to be completed by January 2008.
The two structures and their landscaping will provide an attractive gateway for people entering the borough from the west, Sgroi said.
The justice center is designed with classical architecture features borrowing from the historic courthouse, the most notable structure in the borough, Sgroi said. The justice center with its columns won’t mirror the courthouse, instead it will complement it, he said.
The challenge with the justice center was putting "a seven-story building in a three-story town," Sgroi said. And the building had to be seven stories to accommodate the growth of the county.
It’s facade had to be treated carefully so as not to disrupt the rhythm of the buildings in the borough. To do that, the first five stories are brick with the top two architectural concrete to provide vertical relief and visually reduce the scale of the building, Sgroi said.
"The new justice center is a dignified building with a dignified service designed to provide character and dignity to the borough," Sgroi said.
Dinniman agreed.
"We wanted it to communicate justice and fairness, a solid design that we hope will stand and be revered by citizens in the future like the courthouse is today," Dinniman said. "We want people to know by looking at it, it is a building with integrity."
