No objections : Gunn pleased about decision to renovate historical courthouse
Posted on Monday, July 14, 2008
Fourth Circuit Judge Mary Ann Gunn said she is happy about the decision county officials made to renovate the inside of the Historical Washington County Courthouse.
"I am thrilled with the proposal that Judge (Jerry ) Hunton made to the Quorum Court, and I'm so proud of all the votes (Thursday ) to restore the historic courthouse," she said. "If that means that we're displaced for even a year, that's OK with me.
"I've said all along I'll hold court under a tree if it'll help refurbish the old courthouse. It's a dream come true for me and for my staff. We're so happy."
A key component of renovating the interior of the historical courthouse - the exterior already has been refurbished - is trying to make it both historically pleasing and useful to the rest of the county.
It is a key peg of Hunton's and the Quorum Court's plan to provide more office space and courts for county operations. Other key parts are to purchase the Terminella Building along College Avenue, which officials say has the square footage to build two courtrooms on the first floor and put the public defenders on the second floor. There are also plans to build a parking garage across North College Avenue from the Washington County Courthouse with a skywalk for pedestrian traffic.
As for the historical courthouse, plans are to add a second courtroom there alongside Gunn's existing courtroom.
The three new courtrooms that are part of the overall plan would be in addition to the four existing ones in the Washington County Courthouse, the one at the historical courthouse, and the one in the Washington County Juvenile Detention Center, bringing the total to nine.
Gunn's major focus, of course, is the overall historical courthouse she and her staff occupy on a daily basis, dealing with some of the heating and air conditioning issues and other things that go with a building that is a little more than a century old - but also basking in a rich heritage.
"It's the last historic building that Washington County owns," Gunn said. "I think that it's a must for it to continue to be a working courthouse for lots of reasons. Not only is it our heritage, but we hold court there, and it's a working building."
The judge admires the old ornamental tiles that can be seen in holes in the new ceiling on the fourth floor, and the decorative plaster artwork is intact in one room on that floor. That area is where the balcony to one big courtroom on the third floor once sat. Since its original life, it has been divided with a smaller courtroom behind the larger one, which Gunn uses.
Gunn said many school students tour the building.
"The young people learn about how the old courthouse functions," she said. "They're in awe of the architecture, and it's just a great learning experience for our students."
A time capsule for the centennial celebration of the courthouse was opened in 2005.
"We found the only set of the original plans in the old time capsule, so we know how every inch of the courthouse was built," Gunn said. "We can put it back in its original condition. I hope that we can refurbish the building back to its original condition as much as possible."
She said she would like to see restoration of the large courtroom and its balcony.
One of the biggest considerations in the renovation is the heat and air and where to put it, Gunn said. Right now, the units are above the courtroom Gunn uses and outside.
"We're looking at totally new heating, air conditioning, plumbing, electrical, a new elevator, and that pretty well takes care of the mechanical things," County Administrator John Gibson said.
After that, he said, there will be aesthetic considerations.
The National Register of Historic Places has an easement on the exterior but not on the interior of the building, he said. This relaxes some of the limitations on what can be done to restore the inside while meeting modern county needs.
"Obviously what we want to accomplish with that building is to have a functioning courthouse with two courtrooms," Gibson said. "That's our primary goal."
A plan will be developed, determining the changes in terms of offices and having the functioning courthouses, he said. Also included in the plans will be what can be done to make the building green and to save energy, he said.
Polk Stanley Rowland Curzon Porter Architects of Fayetteville, the architectural firm that did the work on the exterior, is being consulted for the interior phase.
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