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Lee County committee details repair plan after Old Courts retaining wall collapse
Summary
County maintenance staff reported a partial collapse of a retaining wall at the Old Courts building, described the safety response and presented a repair approach that includes engineering, new stonework and a plan to widen the sidewalk; officials expect an engineering estimate next month and to seek bids in spring.
The Lee County Facilities and Maintenance Committee discussed a partial collapse of a retaining wall at the Old Courts building and outlined next steps to repair the structure and adjacent sidewalk.
Eric, a maintenance department staff member, said temporary barricades were installed the day after the failure and staff are working with engineers to produce elevations and cross sections. "Yep. Entire wall, sidewalk on Galena side and most likely sidewalk on second street side too," he said, describing the location of the collapse.
Why it matters: the wall failure affects pedestrian access and a section of the courthouse exterior. Committee members said they want engineering completed quickly so the county can put the repair out to bid and avoid a prolonged construction season.
Details of the failure and repair plan
Maintenance staff reported a collapsed section of the stone retaining wall and a roughly 15- to 20-foot area that gave way. Video of the failure exists: in the meeting Jeremy, a county staff member, said the collapse occurred "about 5:30, 6 o'clock." Martin and Company installed temporary barricades, and staff are obtaining topographic information and elevations from Windler.
Eric described a proposed rebuild using two tiers of Unilac stone instead of the current single, porous limestone units. He said the plan would widen or extend the sidewalk to a minimum of 4 feet from the light post to the exterior side of the foundation and create planted landscaping behind the rebuilt wall. "If we did it into the tallest walls, what, 565 foot ish. So the the tallest wall was 5 foot ... so it's actually gonna look beautiful," Eric said.
Staff said they are working with an engineering team identified in the meeting as Will and Hoffman on elevations and expect the engineering work to take about four to six weeks. Officials said they hope to have documents ready to go to bid in the spring and to start construction so the site is not left torn up during the summer. One committee member said the county administrator will speak with the city to coordinate any needed assistance for the sidewalk work.
Discussion, risk and next steps
Committee members described the existing stone as porous and failing, and maintenance staff said the current wall "no fixing it" and is pushing over in places. Eric reported the county wants to build the wall in two tiers to allow easier future repairs and better drainage. The project will require engineered plans and bidding; staff flagged the schedule as dependent on producing those engineering documents and completing the bid process.
The committee asked that staff return with engineering cost estimates and a timeline at the next meeting. Eric said he hoped the engineering and bidding process would allow construction to begin in May so major work could be completed before the busy summer months.
What officials said next
Officials did not adopt a formal motion in the meeting specific to the wall repair; they requested an engineering estimate and signaled intent to move quickly to bidding once designs are complete. Staff said temporary safety measures remain in place until permanent repairs are contracted and executed.
