Tippecanoe County could have a fairly sizable unexpected expense in its 2016 budget.
Commissioner Dave Byers told the county council Tuesday the courthouse dome is in need of repair.
He says the maintenance director alerted him to pieces of metal falling off the outside of the dome onto the roof of the courthouse.
“The shell itself is solid," says Byers. "There’s not rain getting in there, there’s not light getting through. So I think it’s just a matter of we know there’s something, the age is there, so we know it’s time we’re going to have to do something to clean it up and hopefully prevent things from happening.”
Byers says there’s not a cost estimate for the project yet.
But he says the city of Lafayette recently spent roughly $500,000 to sandblast and repaint a water tower, which he thinks could be similar to the work that needs to be done at the courthouse.
Byers says he wanted to give the council a heads-up about the project prior to budget hearings because there is no money currently set aside for that type of maintenance.
