It appears the sounds of hammering and drilling will replace the sounds of melodic young voices this holiday season at the Mercer County Courthouse.

The ongoing renovation, which has turned the historic building virtually inside out for more than two years, is not expected to be finished in time for the annual lunchtime concerts by local high school musicians.

"I was hoping to have them and hoping to have the project completed, but that doesn't look like it's going to be accomplished," Commissioner Olivia M. Lazor said Monday.

She said commissioners would be notifying schools that due to the construction it would be impossible to hold the concerts this year.

For more than a decade nearly every high school in the county has been represented on the interior steps of the courthouse from the beginning of December until just before Christmas.

"The courthouse concerts have been a tradition and it's going to be less celebratory without them," Mrs. Lazor said. "They always put people in the mood for the season. They lifted people's spirits and believe me, we need our spirits lifted."