County Building Damage Estimated at $45 Million

By Dave Franzman, Reporter

The Cedar River continues to rise around City Hall and May's Island Thursday afternoon, June 12, 2008. The river rose above record levels Thursday, and is expected to crest Friday morning. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)

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By Becky Ogann

Story Created: Jul 3, 2008 at 4:22 PM CST

Story Updated: Jul 3, 2008 at 4:22 PM CST

CEDAR RAPIDS - $45 million dollars is the working estimate now for flood damage to ten Linn County buildings.

Linn County Supervisors let us inside the courthouse, jail and other important county buildings for the first time since the floods hit last month.

The county had contractors on the job within days of the flooding, pumping out water and trying to limit damage to interiors. At the county's administration building and the courthouse, water was confined to the lower levels only. But those levels contained main electrical and heating and cooling controls as well as elevators and other major equipment. Work is well underway at drying things out and removing damaged material, but the pace may slow when it's time to find contractors to begin repairs.

"We're going to be competing for resources just like every business in town every residential home in town so we'll be competing for parts to fix elevators to fix air conditioning...to get the people in here," said Joel Miller, Linn County Auditor.

County officials say because the water did not get into the main floor of the courthouse...it may be possible to seal off the lower level for repairs and reopen the upper floors. But the courthouse would still have to have working power, elevators and other essentials ready even with a sealed lower level. One optimistic guess is a limited courthouse might reopen in two to three months.

Due to more specialized security equipment, the jail might take as long as six months to a year to reopen.

Incidentally, the $45 million guess for total county property damage is almost half the annual budget for all of Linn County.

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