Walking traffic at the Cullman County Courthouse has felt like anything but business as usual this month, with staff and visitors having to tiptoe around a flurry of construction cleanup and mitigation activity.

Earlier in February, a construction and demolition project on the building’s first floor released airborne lead and less hazardous materials in areas of the building’s north side, temporarily displacing the Cullman County Commission office, the Cullman County Board of Registrars, the state drivers license division (which temporarily closed down) in the basement, and other courthouse employees.

Commission chairman Jeff Clemons said Monday, that though some departments are still operating out of temporarily-arranged space, all departments are now at least open for business as cleaning crews continue their work.

“We’re putting new office space in the area where the old jail used to be, plus our ongoing HVAC [replacement] project, and I don’t think lead is an issue at this point as much as the general dust is,” he said. ”We’ve got [industrial cleanup company] Servpro there every day, and they’re pretty close to being done with the commission offices now.

“Most of the lead contamination was on the side of the courthouse where it affected the basement, the [second floor] courtrooms, and the commission office,” he added. “We have people testing for lead and dust every day, and our levels at this point are way down from what they were. County employees who have been in any of the affected areas also can go get tested voluntarily.”

The cleanup forced the commission to hold its monthly meeting last week, not in its customary first floor meeting space, but in the large courtroom on the building’s third floor. Clemons said the courthouse’s age, as well as its construction, is making progress slow — whether in preparing the structure for new office space and HVAC replacement, or simply in cleaning up the associated debris.

“That building is probably close to 80-years-old, and they’ve run into a lot of hiccups along the way,” he said. “The floors are solid cement. Right now we’re hoping that the HVAC project will be done sometime in June, and our new office project sometime around the first of April.”