Construction issues slow rebuild of Westmoreland courthouse garage

A series of setbacks is blamed for delays in completing a $7 million project to rebuild the two-story underground parking garage at the Westmoreland County Courthouse in Greensburg.

Public Works Director Greg McCloskey said the work, which began in April, is now expected to be finished in February.

“We’ve had a number of delays,” McCloskey said Monday. “It’s still on budget, and we have a guarantee that there is a maximum price of $7 million.”

An engineering report revealed the underground parking structure — which needed substantial repairs several years ago — was in danger of collapse because of water damage from surface leaks.

The county originally expected the project to take about six months to complete and be substantially finished by the end of October. But unexpected construction issues pushed that date to late November or early December.

McCloskey said workers recently found even more problems, and water infiltrated the site, requiring additional reinforcement of the foundation around the 12,000-square-foot construction zone. Tests are being conducted to determine the source of the groundwater.

Meanwhile, workers discovered bedrock at the bottom of the giant hole left when the old parking structure was removed. Additional digging to remove that bedrock was required to allow for larger columns to be installed to reinforce the new garage.

“We didn’t know what to anticipate and didn’t know what we had until it was all torn down,” McCloskey said.

Workers poured more than 700 cubic yards of concrete this month to serve as the first floor of the garage. Concrete is scheduled to be poured for the second level in November, and the top portion of the structure — which will serve as the plaza in front of the courthouse — will be poured in January, McCloskey said.

In all, officials said about 2,800 cubic yards of concrete will be used.

County officials had the new garage designed to allow for an upward expansion of the courthouse in the future. There are no immediate plans to add to the original courthouse, built in the early 1900s, or the adjoining office building that was added in the late 1970s, McCloskey said.

In March, the county restricted access to Courtyard Square and closed the main entrance of the complex. An entrance to the old section of the courthouse on Main Street, which had been closed for more than three decades, was reopened for the public’s use as were two doors on opposite sides of Pennsylvania Avenue.

McCloskey said the revamped work schedule means the plaza in front of the courthouse and the former Main Street entrance won’t reopen before February. A reconfigured plaza, with shaded areas, benches and other amenities, won’t be finished until spring.