SALEM, Ore. (AP) — A new study says it would cost more to repair the Courthouse Square office building and adjacent bus mall in Salem than it cost to build it.
The Statesman Journal reports that a citizens task force was told Thursday that repairing the five-story government building in downtown Salem would cost about $39.7 million.
Consulting engineers say demolishing and replacing the bus mall would cost an additional $9.7 million — pushing the total cost to nearly $50 million.
The project cost $34 million to build 10 years ago.
Last July, engineers determined that Courthouse Square had structural problems that made it unsafe, including defects in its design and below-specification concrete.
