Despite problems at the Courthouse Annex, Portage County will make the final payment to the architect, Barrientos and Associates.
Corporation Counsel Michael McKenna said the county will probably have to make the payment. The county has been withholding payment until some problems with the building were resolved. "We have to show he didn't do something right," McKenna said.
Dennis Kolodziej, county director of facilities, said an independent engineering firm will probably find everything is OK with the building. "The building is fine," he said. "It has some small problems that get accentuated. I think we got a great building."
One of the problems with the building has been water in the elevator pit. Kolodziej said the system was designed based on findings of an independent firm that checked for ground water. A video of the pit is being reviewed, he said, but the pit was dry when the video was made and water has not been a problem recently.