NEW PHILADELPHIA Workers removed the cupola from the dome of the Tuscarawas County Courthouse on Tuesday as the $1 million dome restoration project moves into its next phase.
Crews started work at around 7 a.m. They spent two hours setting things up, but were able to lift the cupola off the dome in little over five minutes, according to Scott Reynolds, director of the Tuscarawas County Office of Community & Economic Development. The cupola weighs 1,400 pounds.
For the next couple of months, it will sit in a parking space behind the courthouse annex while workers do structural work on it.
Coon Restoration & Sealants Inc. of Louisville was awarded the contract to sheath the dome with copper and reconstruct the cupola.
Reynolds said it was necessary to remove the cupola because the copper sheeting ends where the cupola sits. While the cupola is off the courthouse, workers will strip off the old copper and work on the wood and metal under-structure.
"The cupola came down to make it easier and a lot less time-consuming to do the work," he said.
As soon as the cupola was removed, workers took off the metal eagle that sits on top of it "so it wouldn't disappear," Reynolds said. The 35-pound copper statue was originally placed on top of the courthouse in 1973. It went missing in October 2006, and was returned to the dome in 2014.
The eagle will also get some work done while it is off the courthouse.
"There are a few little cracks, nothing big," he said. "It has held up really well. They will take it to a shop and do some small repairs to make it more water tight. Then we will keep it stored safely until the cupola goes back up."
The project, which is about 30 percent complete, should be done by early fall, Reynolds said.
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