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Courthouse's crumbling interior sparking emergency repairs

Emergency repairs at Nueces County Courthouse
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CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Emergency repairs are underway at the Nueces County Courthouse as chunks of the building's exterior are falling off.

A large piece of tile fell from the building's tower, cracking a glass panel over the atrium.

No injuries were reported when the incident happened.

County leaders say it's also a good thing it happened two weeks ago, on a Saturday, when there weren’t many people in the courthouse.

Since then -- in addition to cordoning off the area beneath the broken glass -- the county has hired a company to put up safety netting to catch any more falling tiles.

County leaders say they noted loose tiles in their latest capital improvement plan, and that a remedy already was in the works when the tile fell.

Now instead of focusing on air conditioners and elevators, loose tiles are a top priority.

"We make certain that we communicate our issues to the citizens that come and use the courthouse as well as the employees,” Nueces County Judge Barbara Canales said. “And again, we're taking all the measures that we need to, making certain that it's safe to be in and around the courthouse."

The county has also hired an architect to assess the situation.

That person will come up with a plan to fix the problem.

It's unclear at this point how long that could take.