Pike County Courthouse Addition

Client: Pike County, PA

MHE Engineering provided planning, design, bid administration, and construction administration and observation services to Pike County for the 30,000 square foot three story addition to the Historic Pike County Courthouse (Circa 1874).  The planning and design followed the Secretary of the Interior’s guidelines for Historic Structures, and required approvals from the Pennsylvania Historic & Museum Commission as well as the local Architectural Review Board.  The Courthouse addition houses new office space for the Pike County Probation Office, The pike County Sheriff’s Office, and the Pike County Court Administration Office.  The new addition also provides for secure prisoner holding areas, secure sally port, secure judges parking, and secure travel paths for Judges, jury and staff.  A second Courtroom and a Hearing room were also included in the addition.

The Design required a distinct separation between the Historic structure and the new utilizing a building “hyphen” created with a façade of local bluestone.  With assistance from Owners of neighboring property, lots were consolidated to meet the demands of the expanding courts and the tight restrictions on available property.  The Historic Courthouse required underpinning to allow for the construction of the new lower level, and each floor elevation was matched to provide a continuous flow from old to new.  The site design required a re-design of the County Campus parking as well as the design of a new wastewater system located on an adjacent lot.  The Courthouse is located in the Historic District of Milford, Pa.