In downtown Oregon, Illinois, the Ogle County Courthouse stands as a defining piece of regional history—its steep towers and slate-clad roof visible for miles across the Rock River Valley. When a major hailstorm damaged the aging original slate system, county officials faced a difficult question: how to restore the roof in a way that preserved the building’s historic character while improving durability, safety and long-term performance.
Sterling Commercial Roofing of Sterling, Illinois, was selected to lead the restoration—an undertaking that would test logistics, safety planning and ingenuity from the very first day. Because the courthouse remained fully operational throughout construction, extensive ground protection and public safety measures were implemented from the outset.
According to Brady Keller, project superintendent for Sterling Commercial Roofing, the objectives were clear from the beginning. “The primary objective was to safely remove hail-damaged original slate roofing and replace it with a durable synthetic slate system that preserved the historic appearance of the courthouse while improving long-term performance and safety.”…