Safety barrier outside City-County Building will remain
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Stretches of sidewalk outside the City-County Building will remain closed for two to three weeks as workers try to determine what caused stones to loosen atop the structure above Forbes Avenue and Grant Street.
Work began last month to determine why the cornice and parapet wall near the roof were cracking. This week, workers found loose stones beneath a capstone, said Casimir Pellegrini, a project manager in Pittsburgh's Public Works department.
The stones were secured, but scaffolding and caution tape will remain and the sidewalk will be closed while architects and engineers check out other vulnerable parts of the structure.
"The immediate fix has been made, but to fix the entire cornice is going to take a lot more planning, and until we know a little bit more, we are going to keep that sidewalk closed," Mr. Pellegrini said.
Nothing has fallen from the roof or facade to the street below, but Mr. Pellegrini said the sidewalk would remain blocked as a precaution.
The building, which opened in 1917, is jointly owned by the city and Allegheny County. It serves as city hall and also contains courtrooms and county offices.
The extent of needed repair work is still being investigated, but so far the estimated cost for the parapet and cornice work is $70,000, which will be split by the city and the county, Mr. Pellegrini said.
A possible step after a preliminary investigation of the structure is completed may be to erect a net around deteriorating decorations on the cornice, similar to the one in place around Smithfield United Church of Christ, Downtown.
First Published November 19, 2011 12:00 am
