Hill County Courthouse west doors still being repaired

The Hill County Courthouse's west doors, which have been blocked off for the past few months, may be fixed in the next few weeks, a project that has taken a substantial amount of time primarily for logistical reasons.

Hill County Commissioner Jake Strissel said the doors were heavily damaged earlier in the winter when someone delivering packages pulled on the locked doors too hard, thinking they were stuck, which bent the hinges and caused enough damage that they needed to be fully blocked off.

However, Strissel said the doors have been a problem for many years, having been custom built and poorly installed many decades ago, which has made it very difficult to find people willing to work on them.

He said the doors have been extremely drafty, which has made for unpleasantly cold offices in the winter months for the Hill County Attorney's office as well as others.

He said there have been attempts to retrofit them in the past, but because they were custom built so long ago it's hard to find people to address them.

Hill County Building and Maintenance Manager Daryl Anez said the west doors were built nearly a century ago and were blocked off for a substantial amount of time in the late 1900s, though much of their history was before his time and records from the time were not well kept.

What he does know, Anez said, is that they've been a problem since they reopened.

He said projects like this are the decision of the Hill County Commission and the cost of repairs, about $8,000 is substantial.

Strissel said logistics have been a bigger problem in this case than money.

He said the current estimate for when the doors will be fully functional again is April 15, but that is a conservative date.