Oregon County Hires Lawyer for Courthouse Square

Marion County has hired a lawyer to deal with the insurance company for the unsafe Courthouse Square building in Salem.

The county’s risk division manager, Mina Hanssen, says it’s likely the claim on the building will end up in litigation. She says the insurance company, Affiliated FM, appears to be making a good faith effort to process the claim, but it could get complicated.

The Statesman Journal reports the policy excludes construction defects, unless they lead to a collapse.

The five-story county office building and bus mall was built for $34 million in 2000. In July engineers determined the building was unsafe and could not be occupied because of weak concrete and a defective design.