County courthouse won’t be demolished
The good news is, contrary to a social media post made last Wednesday, the Hidalgo County Courthouse, currently stuck in limbo, doors locked, lights out, no foot traffic, won’t have to be demolished after all. Its foundation is indeed firm, said Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez last week. Contrary to the social media post, the new courthouse is not “sinking.”
On the Commissioners Court agenda this Tuesday, one line item seemed to reflect the county’s current predicament, posted under “Closed Session:” Consultation with Legal Counsel regarding Legal Action due to emergency situation.” No action, however, was taken, leaving people to wonder, where will the county go from here?
A study done by Houston- based Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates Inc. (WJE) over the past several months to assess the problems that still need fixing inside the $180-plus million “new courthouse,” has been turned over to the County Judge and Commissioners Court, but still hasn’t been made public, while county attorneys work to draw up a game plan.
Who to sue? When to sue? Do we have to sue? Who’s to blame? How to get the courthouse up and running so that county employees can vacate the old courthouse and move into the new? Questions, questions, questions.
Last week, when asked about the “sinking” courthouse, Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez said there was no truth to it. However, he did say, “As you know, we’ve had some construction defects that we’re concerned with. That’s why we hired an engineering firm to do a comprehensive study. The report has come in.”
According to Judge Cortez, the truth of the matter is, the comprehensive study uncovered problems, sure, that’s why the county hired an outside firm to do an assessment, but when the report came in, the problems cited were mainly those of which the county was already aware. “The good thing is, they can all be fixed,” said Cortez, who still holds out hope that the new courthouse will be open for business by the end of the year. That is, however, dependent on several things: the availability of materials needed to finish the job and fix the repairs uncovered in the WJE report, and finding the right subcontractor(s) to remedy the problems.
If the question then segues into, who is ultimately responsible for this dilemma, who is going to pay for the repairs, who might be sued for creating this cluster, no one wants to go there on the record for obvious reasons.
“It’s in the hands of legal,” is the answer you’ll get these days.