Globe lights to return to the courthouse
The Richland County Courthouse is going to return to the look it had decades ago. County commissioners voted Tuesday to spend $7,044 from the reinvestment account in the county general fund to buy 24-inch LED globe lights to hang from the courthouse portico.
The globe lights were taken down a number of years ago because they were cheap plastic and very weathered. Discussion about replacing them started earlier this year when a resident pointed out to Commissioner Tony Vero that the building is the only courthouse or county office building in Ohio that was built in that time period and that the community should embrace the building’s history while other improvements being made to it.
The courthouse, built in 1968, was designed by architect Thomas G. Zaugg and Associates. Constructed of brick, it features pre-cast concrete arches that form a portico at the building’s front. According to the Supreme Court of Ohio website, when the courthouse was first built it had round chandeliers hanging from the portico, which matched lights in the interior, but the chandeliers deteriorated and were later replaced by hanging lights.
During a July meeting with the commissioners on a proposed Westinghouse memorial, Downtown Mansfield Inc. CEO Jennifer Kime said restoring the globe lights would be an aesthetic help to the building’s architectural details and features. Richland County Historical Society president Alan Wigton noted that while the building has received flack for its “new formalism” design, the style was a product of its time and is similar to the former United Telephone headquarters building on Lexington Avenue.
The lights will be purchased through McNaughton-McKay Electric Company of Columbus and will have a powder coated “architectural bronze” finish on the metal work that will match the architecture and style of the courthouse building and windows. County Maintenance Supervisor Josh Hicks said the lights will be hung from existing conduit and will not sway.
"That sounds like they’re the closest thing to what they were,” said Commissioner Darrell Banks.
The county will buy nine lights with one to be used as a future replacement. Hicks said the company did not give a lead time for the lights to be manufactured.
Commissioners approve new hire, appoint Mental Health board member
Commissioners also voted to create a new maintenance repair worker position and accepted a recommendation by Hicks to hire Jonathan Rand to fill the position on a 120-day probationary period, effective Sept. 1. Rand will be assigned to Dayspring, the county’s assisted living facility, at a rate of $18.25 per hour, which will increase to $19.75 if he obtains a commercial driver’s license.
Commissioners also appointed Sylvia Jordan of Mansfield to an unexpired term on the Richland County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board at the recommendation of MHRS director Joe Trolian. Jordan is a Madison High School graduate who is the clinical director of ASI Community Wellness Group in Ontario and also has worked as a therapist at organizations in Florida and Cleveland and as a case manager for a Florida organization and Richland County Children Services.
Jordan said in her application that she has seen an increase in mental health needs since her return to Mansfield, particularly in the Black community, and continues to see a stigma attached to mental health in the Black community. She will fill a partial term that expires June 23, 2023, and will be eligible for two reappointments.
Commissioners also accepted the resignation of Deputy Dog Warden John Hamilton, effective immediately. Vero said Hamilton was full time, retired from the City of Mansfield, who liked being on the road and out in public.
“With gas prices being high we had pulled back some of the patrols and said unless it was related to calls, we want you back at the office more and I don’t think that’s what he enjoyed,” Vero explained.
Vero said it appears the county will not have to post the position because it was advertised less than six months ago and there still is a pool of applicants. If Dog Warden Missy Houghton finds someone in that pool who she feels can fill the job, he said she can bring a recommendation to the board.
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Richland County commissioners approve globe lights for the courthouse
