AUBURN — Androscoggin County’s Civil War-era courthouse is outdated, inefficient and unsafe, says a new group of building experts.

“It’s a wonderful old building, but it’s tired,” said Kenneth Ricci, president of Ricci Greene Associates. “It’s quite outmoded and out of date.”

Ricci’s architectural and planning company based in Providence, R.I., has spent weeks interviewing staff and examining the stately brick structure in the center of Auburn’s downtown. By the end of April, the company plans to make some initial recommendations for changes.

On Wednesday, workers from Ricci Greene shared some of their initial reactions with county leaders, including commissioners, staff and members of a Building Committee.

“We’re trying to lay out a modern government building and courthouse,” said Ryan Critchfield, a Ricci associate.

As it now sits, the building is a kind of hodgepodge of offices, he said. Over the years, departments have changed, but the building hasn’t changed with them. Renovations were deferred.

Part of the fight is over space.

The analysis found that only 40,500 square feet of the available 68,700 square feet of office space is being used.

“The challenge is working within the existing footprint,” Critchfield said.

Empty or poorly used areas range from empty basement offices, where air quality has been an issue, to rooms still dominated by cells from a discontinued Depression-era jail.

More concerning are some of the safety and privacy issues that go with the courthouse, Critchfield said.

Almost every day, a train of shackled, guarded inmates walks from the jail, connected to the north end of the building, and down public corridors to the courtroom one floor up.

There are too many opportunities for something tragic to happen when inmates pass so closely to the public, Ricci said.

In other courthouses, inmates are strictly partitioned from the public, with dedicated building entrances, courtroom entrances and holding areas.

Similarly, jury rooms are too small, have too few amenities and are too accessible to the public, Critchfield said. Deliberations can be overheard by someone standing outside, because the walls were never properly soundproofed.

Critchfield outlined the findings in a 42-page computer slide presentation.

Ricci Greene is working on the project with the Auburn-based Harriman architectural and engineering company. Together, they hope to have a proposed top-to-bottom fix for the 154-year-old building complete this summer. Such a fix would likely cost millions of dollars and be spread over several construction phases.

Harriman has been examining the building’s systems, many of which are aging and obsolete. In some cases, even replacement parts are antiques.

The sprinkler system goes back to World War II. Heating is poor and inconsistent. There is no central air conditioning. And only one faucet, located in an employee lounge, has hot water.

Ray Lafrance, the Sheriff’s Department patrol captain, said he had grown frustrated by the lack of modernization throughout the courthouse.

“This building is the same as it was when I was 10 years old,” Lafrance said. “We’re stuffing too much into one small space.”

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