Two neglected historic structures in Nye County will be getting an evaluation for some expected repairs soon.

Melvyn Green and Associates of Torrance, Calif. received a $55,000 contract from county commissioners Tuesday to assess the old Nye County courthouse in Tonopah and $30,000 to prepare bid specifications for reroofing the old Rhyolite train depot.

The contracts were approved on the consent agenda, in which commissioners can approve a group of items seen as non-controversial with one motion.

The reroofing of the Rhyolite train station was approved on July 17, 2007. The county is using $30,000 for that work out of payment equal to taxes from the U.S. Department of Energy.

Rhyolite, five miles west of Beatty, became a town after the discovery of gold in 1904 and had a population of up to 10,000 before the finds played out by 1910.

The depot dates back to 1909, when it serviced the Las Vegas and Tonopah railroad. It's been fenced off to the public. A Union Pacific caboose is also on the property.

The exact scope of work includes measuring the building using laser methods and preparing elevations and a roof plan. The contractor will use drawings to prepare specifications for the bid for the new roof and flashing work.

The work is expected to be completed by May 31 unless a written extension is granted.

Nye County Commissioner Joni Eastley, a member of an association to preserve Rhyolite, said the train station is on the National Register of Historic Places.

"We have to get the state Historic Preservation Office involved. They had to look at the plans and look at the materials we want to use. It's been a very lengthy process," Eastley said.

Susie McCoy, who used to be a caretaker in Rhyolite, said even after the roof is repaired, it could still be a few years before the train station could be open to the public.

Melvyn Green and Associates will also perform an assessment of the structural condition of the old Nye County Courthouse in Tonopah for vertical load, earthquake safety, deterioration and other conditions that may require repair or upgrade.

The company will also identify on a room-by-room basis, existing, historic features and inappropriate alterations and conditions in the courthouse. Eastley said Green has already been to Tonopah to conduct an extensive, photographic review to try to replicate what the courthouse originally looked like.

An activities plan for rehabilitating the building will be prepared based on those studies.

The historic structure report and seismic retrofit design drawing are supposed to be completed by Jan. 31. The entire contract is supposed to be completed by March 31 unless an extension is granted. The $55,000 includes all travel and loging expenses.

The old courthouse dates back to 1901. Ione was the first county seat of Nye County when Nevada became a state in 1864. The county seat moved to Belmont from 1867 to 1905, when it was moved again to Tonopah.

After the new courthouse opened on Radar Road in Tonopah, the old courthouse continued to be used for offices like the University of Nevada, Reno, Cooperative Extension Office, No To Abuse and the former Community College of Southern Nevada. The building contains an old safe with documents dating back to the 1860s.

Eastley said the old courthouse renovation has been a labor of love. She said among the finds was a document from the 1930s identifying a room next to the courtroom not as a law library, as had been believed, but a dormitory for jury members who had to travel great distances.

When commissioners voted to spend $200,000 to replace the leaky roof at the old courthouse in February 2004, then-Commissioner Henry Neth complained about the cost. Former Nye County Manager Mike Maher suggested commissioners seek historical preservation grants, but warned they could take a while to obtain.

That turned out to be true.

In September 2006, Eastley was authorized to apply for a $55,000 grant from the Nevada Commission for Cultural Affairs to design a restoration plan. That grant was received in December 2007. Eastley said they then had to wait for bonds to be sold to finance the building's evaluation.

Back then, Eastley told skeptical commissioners, "This is one of the original courthouses of Nye County. This is something Nye County has that we should be proud of."

Melvyn Green and Associates is a structural engineering and historic preservation firm that provides evaluation, design and research services to governmental agencies and private building owners.

The company, on its Web site, states it is committed to the preservation of historic resources through conservation and reuse of existing building stock.

It was formed in 1972 by Melvyn Green, former director of building and safety for the city of El Segundo, Calif., and a past president of the Structural Engineers Association of California.