Bid approved to continue exterior preservation at Gage County Courthouse

BEATRICE – Gage County officials have approved a bid to continue exterior preservation work at the county’s historic courthouse.
The county supervisors Wednesday approved the bid of Masonry Construction, Inc. for a total of $139,313.

Board member Dave Swavely, who chairs the county’s building and grounds committee indicated completion of work on the north side of the building would leave only some upper-level preservation work, still to be completed.

"This side will take a minimum of two months....one month at least, for the cleaning...and the other month for the processing. If we have any kind of bad weather at all in there, there won't be time to do that (extra work). We decided in committee meeting...that we'll just do the north side first."

Remaining work includes the courthouse tower and a chimney. County officials have been tackling the project in phases, working around the entire building until all of the work is completed. The Gage County Courthouse gained a spot on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. Construction of it began in 1890. In 2008, voters approved a $2.9 million bond issue to renovate the building.

Swavely says the county will also be taking quotes for repair of about a 16-by-16 foot section of the driveway onto the courthouse grounds.