Judicial Center brick replacement under way

Brick by brick, the outside of the Charleston County Judicial Center is being removed.

And replaced.

A long-running legal fight over construction has triggered an ambitious plan in which just about every brick and bit of stucco on the exterior walls are being chipped out. Hundreds of bricks are being removed, making the building look like a giant defective 3-D puzzle.

The Judicial Center opened in 2002 as the new four-story courthouse in Charleston. The $48 million center, with more than 180,000 square feet, came about after Hurricane Hugo in 1989 tore the roof off the county's historic courthouse at Meeting and Broad streets.

But after the center opened, courthouse workers quickly noticed water leaks. Birmingham, Ala.-based contractor Bill Harbert International Construction made some repairs but later reached an impasse with the county over the building's condition. Eventually, the county filed a lawsuit. Several subcontractors later were named parties to the suit. Litigation is ongoing, and a lawyer for the company declined comment.

The $3.4 million brick replacement project is being paid for by the county while the legal battle plays out.

Dan Chandler, director of capital projects for Charleston County, said the stucco and bricks have to be replaced because there was no way to find all the points of water intrusion. "You can't do it piece-meal," he said.

The old bricks aren't suitable for reuse in the building because of the mortar that's still attached to them, Chandler said. When the current bricks get pulled off, the replacements go in shortly afterward, he said.

Ron Rueger, chief deputy clerk of court, said complaints about the project have been minimal. One judge mentioned an odor attributed to a form of sealant, he said. Otherwise, the workers are on the job 10 hours a day, four days a week, he said.

The Judicial Center contains 14 courtrooms, the clerk of court offices, family court, master-in-equity court, probate court, tax offices and space for the Sheriff's Office and security.

The brick replacement started at the beginning of this year and is expected to take until at least June 2009.

Reach Schuyler Kropf at skropf @postandcourier.com or 937-5551.