Old Onondaga County Courthouse Building Envelope Restoration

The old Onondaga County Courthouse, designed by renowned architect Archimedes Russell, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 as part of the Montgomery Street- Columbus Circle Historic District. The county legislature approved the renovation of the building envelope as part of the 1907 building’s Centennial celebration.

The facade consists of cut limestone with a gray granite base, while the roofing elements include copper-clad domes, clay tile domes, and low-sloped modified bitumen roofs.

Klepper, Hahn & Hyatt led the design team on a multi-year effort to restore the entire envelope. Masonry investigation techniques included geologic evaluationof stone samples. Remediation processes included using Rosendale Natural Cement for the ledges and water tables of the granite base, which were exfoliating. Other special methods and details were employed to hasten moisture evacuation, since water infiltration is one of the principal causes of building facade failures.

The roofing restoration project encompassed approximately 43,000 square feet, with a large central dome and four smaller satellite domes clad in copper. A collaborative effort replicated the features and improved the detailing and performance of the copper roof elements. There were also two unique clay tile domes. Ludowici clay tiles were re-manufactured to match the original profile for the new roof application.