Courthouse repair bill at $5.3 million

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Restoration efforts following a July fire at the Milwaukee County Courthouse have cost about $5.3 million.

Don Tyler, director of the county’s Department of Administrative Services, told the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors’ Judiciary, Safety and General Services Committee on Thursday that the cause of the fire remains unknown.

The electrical fire began in the courthouse basement July 6. The courthouse was not fully reopened until July 24.

Jerome Heer, the county’s director of audits, told the committee his office will investigate the cause of, response to and cost of the fire, though he could not provide a timeframe for that review.

The county’s insurers are also investigating the fire, Tyler said, and will remove the damaged section of the electrical system in October.

The county hopes to have a new electrical system designed and ready to be installed by January, Tyler said. The county also hopes to reopen the courthouse’s 10th Street entrance in January.

The repairs, however, will require additional time.

Tyler said the county’s insurer, the Local Government Property Insurance Fund which is overseen by the state’s Office of the Commissioner of Insurance, has paid the county nearly $6 million so far. Of that $6 million, he said, $5.25 million has gone to pay for cleaning and restoration related to the fire.

But, Tyler said, the county cannot predict the full cost of the restoration.

— Beth Kevit