Chillicothe — The first stage of renovations of the Ross County Courthouse will start in September – from the top down – with scaffolding going up around the tower starting on August 17th.
The commissioners indulged me with a long interview after their August 6th, 2026 session, and this is the third of four segments. Hear the commissioners in their own words in the below interview.
The courthouse renovation project has been a few years in the making, and follows up on an almost $1M exterior renovation about 20 years ago that included replacing the belfry with a fiberglass replica.
The commissioners hosted a large meeting Monday morning between officials and employees who work in the courthouse, and the contractors for the renovations. The county judges shared their schedule through the end of the year to let the crew plan when construction noise needed to be avoided for court sessions.
They and the Ross County Sheriff’s Department also discussed security concerns, with scaffolding making roof access tempting.
Commissioner David Glass said the purpose of the meeting was to invite all officials and workers to get briefed on the when and why of the project. Commissioner Jack Everson said there was good communication between the parties.
Ross County Administrator Brad Cosenza said mobilization for the first scaffolding will start on August 17th, which will focus on painting the courthouse tower and replacing the weathervane.
Then scaffolding will go up around the courthouse perimeter in September, with the focus on replacing all the roofing. All work is planned to be completed mid-December.
This first phase is a renovation of only the top of the courthouse. The commissioners have been planning to have the entire outer envelope of the Courthouse as well as the County Archives (the old jail and sheriff’s residence) renovated, but at $10M to $12M, Commissioner Glass said it was too much to finance for one block of time. He said they still have plans for the entire project, but will implement parts of it in phases to avoid needing bonds to finance them.
As for renovation of another county facility, Commissioner Everson said the interior of the Ross County Service Center is almost completed.
