EAST LIVERPOOL — The Thompson Building has entered a planning phase, according to contractor Craig Cozza, Cozza Enterprises.

Cozza noted that there was a lot of extra work that needed to be done on the exterior of the building to shore it up and prevent any more water damage to the interior, and this needed to be done before work began on the interior.

One of the main concerns that needed immediate attention was the turret on the front of the building being ready to collapse. Cozza said if it wasn’t repaired it probably wouldn’t have survived another winter. So crews spent a lot of extra time getting that completely rebuilt.

In addition to the turret, a new roof, facade, windows and other exterior work has been completed. Cozza noted that the windows were constructed by hand like they were back in the day and to this point most of the work done has been done by hand.

Cozza also noted that architect Scott Shepherd is working on some structural and other issues inside the building such as the sidewalk was redone and it too high and they have to figure out what to do with the store front which is not structurally sound.

“Most of the exterior work is done except for that storefront on the right side. They are working through plans on how to fix that,” Cozza said. “When there was some demo done on the corner it created construction issues, but that was done in the past before we bought it and we are working through that.”

Cozza said that right now, it’s basically just some additional planning as they proceed with construction and they are currently working on full interior plans now.

Cozza met with Shepherd on Wednesday to review some of the plans for the interior drawings.

“We are working with a couple of different tenants, and we have to get the space how they want it and where they want the walls and that type of thing,” Cozza said. “Plans are happening as we demo the building out. As you demo things out and clean everything up you start to discover what are the other issues and then you plan and design and have a plan of attack so you can complete though issues.”

Cozza said there will be slow downs here and there throughout the process as they design then build. He noted that it’s an old building and with old buildings you hope there are no issues, but old buildings are always going to have issues.

An elevator for the building is being now designed now and now that the interior has been demoed so they can see the building’s framework design can start on all the mechanicals, the electric, ductwork and plumbing once they know where all the walls will be placed. He expects to know more on that within the next 30 days.

With the historical grants received for work on the building, the building needs to be rebuilt as historically accurately as possible. All the old trim, woodwork and doors have been kept with some of them being rebuilt.

Cozza noted back when the building was constructed there was air conditioning, so they are working on adding air conditioning in a way that is historical friendly. They are also working on plans to make the building ADA compliant while maintaining historical accuracy. He said it’s going to be a challenge, but they will work through it.

Cozza noted work is continuing on the building

“It’s a design build process. We’ll be designing and building all through the process,” Cozza said. “It’s not like we have a big set of plans that is like, ‘oh yeah, just do all this;’ it’s a discover then design and then build. We are excited though. It’s looking good. It’s going to be great. ”

Kgarabrandt@mojonews.com