PORT TOWNSEND — Work is under way to get a better idea of how to retrofit the courthouse clock tower — and do it in a way to maintain historic integrity.
Last week, Jefferson County commissioners allocated $43,440 to an engineering firm and an architect to begin studying the 124-foot tower.
Engineers have determined the brick tower could topple in sustained winds of 80 mph or in a high-intensity earthquake.
County architectural projects coordinator Gordon Ramstrom is helping devise a plan to make it as safe as possible.
The project could cost about $3.7 million, he said.
That doesn’t include a complete upgrade of the 111-year-old courthouse — estimated at more than $12 million.
A mason began applying patches to deteriorated brick last week.
Most of the damage to the tower has occurred in the level above the bell and below the clock, Ramstrom said.
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