SKA completed a visual condition assessment of the exterior facade of Hendersonville City Hall in 2020. The purpose of the assessment was to determine the overall condition of the facade, to document issues that may have contributed to ongoing leakage into the building, to provide conceptual remedial repair / replacement recommendations for the windows, flashings, lintels, mass masonry walls, and limestone cladding, and to provide budget costs associated with the recommended repairs.

The assessment found many issues with the mass masonry including masonry becoming soft, mortar had washed away over the years and sections having recessed mortar joints. The mass masonry was in generally fair condition considering its age, although isolated areas were judged to be poor and require repair. As is typical with mass masonry construction from the 1920’s, the walls do not include air barriers, weather-resistive barriers, vapor retarders, or thermal barriers. The assessment also included review of the windows due to staining at interior finishes, review of the limestone facade, review of the monumental stairs, review of the TPO and EPDM membrane roofs, and review of the cavity wall brick veneer at the new stair and elevator towers.

Our structural group also provided a structural analysis of the roof as Hendersonville City Hall was determining whether to install solar panels. Based on our analysis we found that the capacity of the existing roof structure, consisting of the combination slab and reinforced concrete girders, had an available capacity of 3%. The existing roof system was stressed to 97% of its total capacity. Therefore, we did not recommend the installation of solar panels on the existing roof structure without additional structural strengthening measures being taken.