Scottville city hall in need of exterior work

By Rob Alway. Editor-in-Chief. 

SCOTTVILLE — The City of Scottville is considering some additional work to city hall. Recently, the interior of the hall, built in 1916, has been updated to bring it up to Americans with Disability Act requirements. In addition to making the hall more accessible to people with disabilities, the city had to make the upgrades in order to receive any additional funding from the federal government.

In a memo to the city commission, City Manager Amy Williams said a subcontractor working on the building pointed out that some of the brickwork was in need of repairs.

I should point out our building is almost 99 years old, we will be celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2016,” she said. “In looking at it I don’t believe we have probably ever addressed the brick work since original construction.  We have replaced a couple lower windows and have put on a new roof, but the brick work is likely original.  Based on what the masons who have looked at the building to date are telling me a lot of the work needed is ‘tucking’.

“We have some areas where the bricks are pulling away from the building and allowing water to get in. These bricks are also getting to a point where they could fall and possible injure someone.  The lime stone sills are also starting to pull away from the building and crack.  We now have some interior water damage in our back kitchen area from where the mortar is missing on the west wall.”

Williams said she is in the process of getting quotes. She has been discussing the issue with a mason who specifically works on historical buildings and is hoping to receive a bid from him.

She said she is anticipating the repairs to be costly.

“Unfortunately this work will not come too cheap as there is quite a bit of work to be done.”