For over a year now, there has been discussion on making needed structural repairs to the Barton County Courthouse, but so far not much has been done. Commissioners in December 2017 authorized a structural analysis of the 100-year-old building and discussions have continued about what repairs are needed. Barton County Administrator Phil Hathcock says commissioners have had conversations about where to start on what he called a “laundry list” of different issues that need to be addressed.

Phil Hathcock Audio

Water entering the building from the roof is the priority right now. Hathcock says that hopefully work on those needed repairs will start later this spring or summer.

Phil Hathcock Audio

Those other things include the four outside corners of the structure separating from the center of the building on the fourth floor. There are also plumbing issues in the building that have emerged recently and at some point the county will have to address the buildings aging heating and air system.

Hathcock says the county still doesn’t know how much money all of those repairs will cost. He anticipated that money to make the repairs would come out of the capital improvement fund.