Milwaukee County Courthouse is a monumentally scaled neoclassical structure designed by architect Albert Randolph Ross and completed in 1931. The courthouse was envisioned as the grand centerpiece of a new Civic Center designed according to City Beautiful principles which were popular in the 1920s. The fact that it is nine stories belies its great height at 255 feet tall. The building has a concrete encased steel structure which is clad with over 36,000 limestone blocks, many of which were carved into a great variety of highly decorative forms at column capitals and cornices.

Milwaukee County selected K&H to perform up-close inspections of 100% of the building’s limestone facades to assess their general condition and complete a Critical Exam report required by the City of Milwaukee. Each proposing architecture or engineering firm was instructed to team with a masonry restoration contractor who would provide access for the inspections and complete “make-safe” repairs as needed. K&H served as the Architect of Record, with the masonry restoration contractor serving as a subcontractor.
K&H worked closely with the contractor to develop a winning plan for access to the facades, which was made challenging by the great depth of the façade at colonnades and cornices.