The grand opening of the renovated west wing of the McKean
County Courthouse was held Friday starting with a ceremony in the
Grand Jury Room and followed by small-group tours of the
offices.

District Attorney John Pavlock spoke about the improvements
which began about two years ago and were completed at a savings of
more than $80,000 to the county.

According to Pavlock, when the DA’s former office, down the hall
from the large courtroom, was dedicated in 1942, it was considered
modern and spacious. For example, a newspaper reporter remarked, “A
new and valuable feature of the suite is a small room equipped with
an automatic camera to take Bertillion photographs of the criminals
and their fingerprints.”

“But,” Pavlock continued, “by 2004, our old office was anything
but large and spacious. The county detective, first assistant
district attorney and office manager were all forced to use one
office where they sat only feet apart. They had to hear every phone
call and every conversation that the others in their shared space
had. That ‘small room,’ mentioned in 1942, which is no bigger than
most modern closets, had become the office of the victim witness
coordinator. When victims of crimes came in to talk to the
coordinator, Lori Keith-Master, she had to take them one at a time
because there was only room for her and one other chair.”

The only other meeting room was the office used by the district
attorney. Pavlock said that it was not uncommon for four or five
people sitting in this office for hours listening to all
conversations.

“By 2004, something had to change because this situation simply
was not productive.” That year, the county received a second
judgeship.

Pavlock said, “Therefore, because it is logical for the court
and court staff should be by the courtrooms, we were scheduled to
vacate our old office. The problem was, no one was sure where to
put us. Since the Children and Youth Department was leaving the
back west wing of the courthouse, there was talk of putting us
there. However, because it had clear for some time that Children
and Youth would be moving out, very little had been done for many
years to upgrade these offices.”

In 2004, the DA’s office was told that they would be moved to
the former Children and Youth offices. With other options highly
unlikely, architectural drawings were drawn up for the renovations.
But, when the bids came in, they were much higher than
expected.

“One day,” Pavlock said, “I stood on a chair and lifted one of
the foam ceiling tiles and discovered a huge ceiling and rounded
windows with light blazing in. I couldn’t believe that this
actually had been covered up. But later when I saw that plaster was
peeling from the walls from prior water damage, I realized that
covering the walls and ceiling was the easier route.”

Pavlock approached Tom Causer, a county commissioner at the
time, with the idea of instead of renovating to make the space
modern, an attempt should be made to capture the original
architecture of this area.

“I told him we had three goals – capture a sense of the original
architecture, create a productive area to work and to save
money.”

Causer and the other commissioners agreed, and work began using
volunteer inmates from the jail, area businesses, and employees
Paul Black, head of the maintenance department, and Jean
Hendrickson and Julie Hartzell, the county’s information technology
team. The contributions of Fred “Red” Strutt, Charlie Cook, Larry
Yeager and David Trask were also recognized, as were the county
commissioners, county administrator Dick Casey and Dustin Laurie,
Margie Knox, Mike Kandare, “Bud” Hector and Mike Wilber.

Special thanks were extended to the DA’s staff, Christa Schott,
Mike Alfieri, Scott Klein, Keith-Master, Okerlund, Julie Comes and
Lesley Ganoe.

Others recognized for their understanding during the renovations
were the employees in the Recorder of Deeds and Domestic Relations
offices.

Pavlock said that he is saddened that Ed Enis, a longtime friend
to many in the courthouse, did not live to see the renovations
completed. Enis died this spring.

Pavlock praised his wife and children for being understanding
that he spent many hours on the project.

Pavlock said to the audience, “Today, when you walk through our
office, I hope all of you, as McKean county citizens, who hopefully
want law enforcement to be as productive as possible, and as
taxpayers who want to save a buck or two, or hopefully, many, will
agree that we have met our goals. With a lot of different
individuals, I believe that our office now captures what you would
think of a historic courthouse. The big arched windows are once
again visible, and among the many safety improvements is the
replacement and upgrading of the old wiring.”

Today, the DA’s office suite boasts a central conference room
for victims, witnesses and officers to use while waiting to go to
court. Space is also available for meetings and training for law
enforcement officers. Staff is no longer forced to share space.

In brief remarks, County Detective Jerry Okerlund said, “John
had an idea of what he wanted with the renovations. Only one person
needs a round of applause and that’s John.”

As a token of his appreciation for the workers’ contributions to
the project, Pavlock presented them with carved oak rosettes
similar to the ones on the corners of the doors in the DA’s office.
Each contained the person’s name, date, and a “sincere thank
you.”

Speaking directly to the audience, Pavlock said, “As you walk
through the renovated areas, you decide if we got the job
done.”