Kendall County Board moves to expedite the replacement of courthouse roof section at a cost of $615,000

YORKVILLE – Elected officials are expediting plans for completing the replacement of the roof on the original portion of the Kendall County Courthouse.

The $615,000 project would finish the roof replacement for the section of the courthouse building that was constructed in 1997. The courthouse, 807 W. John St. in Yorkville, is home to the county’s criminal and civil courtrooms, with offices for the Kendall County State’s Attorney, Public Defender, Circuit Court Clerk and court administration.

Work on the roof is expected to get underway this spring. The Kendall County Board voted 10-0 to approve the project at its March 7 meeting. The County Board had been looking at spending $250,000 for replacing only a section of the 1997 roof, but decided to complete the job because there are leaks and performing the work now is expected to save money in the long run.

Board member Dan Koukol worried about spending the additional money.

“It’s hard to swallow that pill to go from $250,000 to $615,000 and there seem to be a lot of projects coming down the pike,” Koukol said.

But Facilities Committee Chairman Brian DeBolt said it will be more efficient to perform all of the remaining work now. He said the county will get better pricing and avoid problems associated with having a patchwork of roof sections later.

“We could say no, but we’ll have to come back,” DeBolt said. “I think it’s a good plan for this building.”

Koukol voted with the rest of the board to approve the plan.

Two small sections of the original roof already have been replaced, in 2019 and last year, but the work remaining comprises about three-quarters of the surface.

DeBolt said supply chain problems could affect the timing of the project. In addition, the work will have to be coordinated with court officials to ensure that courtrooms are not in use when work is going on directly above.

After its original construction in 1997, it soon was determined that the courthouse was too small and an expansion was built in 2009. The expansion forms the east section of the building and is familiar to courthouse visitors as housing the main entrance and the circuit court clerk’s offices. The warranty for the roof on the expansion runs until early 2025.