A courthouse renovation nears completion after more than two years

NEW LEXINGTON, Ohio – A project in Perry County will be ready for the public in October after more than two years of work.

The Perry County Courthouse has been closed since June 2023 to make major repairs to walls, stairs, and the roof which had been leaking. As Perry County Commissioner Ben Carpenter points out, the new roof proudly features a local product.

“The new roof is actually Ludowici Clay Roof Tile. So, it looks like slate but it’s Ludowici Clay Roof Tile that’s been manufactured for us. Of course the Ludowici Clay Roof tile plants here in New Lexington so they wanted to have their product on the roof and they gave us a great deal on that,” Carpenter said. “It looks amazing The bell towers been restored and a lot of good things are happening so I encourage anybody, everyone to stay tuned and and come to our open house and ribbon cutting on Oct. 3.”

Projects of this scale typically requires grants or loans to be taken out by the local government but Carpenter highlights that this was paid through good fiscal policy.

“Well it’s made possible by some… three frugal commissioners. I’ll have to say that. We are paying for all the project, there’s no loans taken out. We paid for all the project, primarily, out of our general fund capital improvement dollars. We did get about $180,000 in Brownsfield Remediation monies because the, there was asbestos floor tile in the building and there was asbestos caulking around the all the windows that were taken out,” Carpenter said.

Stay tuned to WHIZ to learn about the ribbon cutting ceremony on Oct. 3 as the date gets closer.