Elevator in Downtown Geneva Courthouse Up and Running Ahead of Schedule

Elevator in Downtown Geneva Courthouse Up and Running Ahead of Schedule

The new elevator at the historic Kane County Courthouse on Third Street in Geneva was up and running as of Friday, July 24, 2015 — seven days ahead of schedule.

Kane County Operations Staff Executive Don Biggs said Friday that the new elevator is compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act and will allow a gurney for a emergency rescue — an important life-safety improvement and big step up from the elevator’s 65-year-old predecessor.

The elevator is part of $1.5 million in life-safety improvements and renovation work for the 158-year-old courthouse, a price that’s about $284,000 less in today’s dollars than the estimated 2013 cost for the elevator alone.

Biggs thanked Cordogan Clark & Associates architects and Lite Construction, Inc. contractors for exceeding expectations on cost and timing for the project.

At earlier presentations, the total number of 2014 staff member and public visitors to the courthouse was estimated at more than 170,000.

Biggs said the improvements would include new standpipes, fire-rated doors in the stairwells and make the upper floors more safe in case of a fire.

The improvements also include ADA-approved public toilet upgrades, stairwell upgrades, increased size and new finishes for the third-floor Jury Assembly Room, plus renovation of the four offices of CASA Kane County, which will get paint, new carpeting and a hallway from the atrium to the the fourth-floor offices. A dollar-for-dollar grant from the Dunham Fund, Aurora, will cover costs for the construction project which is expected to be completed in another two to three weeks, Biggs said.

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