OSCEOLA COUNTY COURTHOUSE WINDOW REPLACEMENT

Located in Sibley, Iowa, an hour drive east of Sioux Falls, the Osceola County Courthouse was built in 1902 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The 2-story building originally featured a 40ft tall cupola, however in the later half of the 1900s it became structurally compromised and was removed. Designed by Kinney & Detweiler of Austin, MN, the building features elements referencing a variety of architectural styles, not unlike similar courthouse in the region.

The scope of the project is to replace approximately 100 exterior windows that were installed in the 70s with appropriate fitting windows. One of the challenges we faced was designing around a window system that could be installed without damaging the interior wood trim and finishes. We went back and forth with many different window manufactures to and a system that could be customized to each window opening, installed from the exterior and have a round top option. Another issue in selecting a replacement window came from the 7ft tall double hung window which needed to operate from the bottom. Only a couple manufacturers offered a bottom sash counterweight system of this height.

The project gained some scope to remove the lowered ceiling in
one of the offices, though only being a few 100sf, attention to detail in this area was critical. Another challenge faced in the project was coordinating the construction schedule around the shifting schedule of the courthouse with elections and covid closures, along with lead times for manufacturers being longer than normal. The rapport we built with the owner’s representatives and later the window installer helped us work through these obstacles.