BENTONVILLE -- A grant from the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program will fund a master plan for the Benton County Courthouse.
The Quorum Court approved the $18,500 grant Thursday. The grant was awarded last year, but it was not appropriated, said Deborah Fischer, county comptroller.
Part of the master plan will be a detailed technical summary of courthouse needs, like heating and air conditioning and plumbing, County Judge Barry Moehring said.
The master plan also will look at the courthouse footprint and potential areas of expansion, Moehring said. A master plan would help determine if the courthouse could accommodate additional courtrooms in the current footprint.
Hight Jackson Associates, an architectural firm in Rogers, is working with the county on the project, he said. The grant will cover the cost of the master plan, Moehring said.
The master plan will be discussed at the May 23 county Jail and Courts Committee meeting, Moehring said.
"It's a very preliminary kind of thing," he said.
Bryan Beeson, county facilities administrator, first brings in professionals like architects and engineers to see if an upgrade or repairs can be done when dealing with old buildings.
The work of the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program is all about discovering, documenting and preserving the historic treasures of the state -- from homes and courthouses, to cemeteries and monuments, even battlefields and Native American mounds, according to its website.
Justice of the Peace Susan Anglin said she was pleased the county received the grant.
"This plan will be important in helping the Quorum Court make the best budgeting decisions for the needed updates to keep the courthouse functional and also preserve the historical structure," she said.
The courthouse is a mix of old and new.
The three-story courthouse, built in 1928, houses three circuit judges, the circuit clerk, the probate clerk and the prosecuting attorney, Beeson said. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on Jan. 28, 1988, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas.
Other circuit judges are in the new expansion, the courthouse annex across from the courthouse, the juvenile justice center on Melissa Drive and in an office on South Main Street.
"While I love working in a beautiful building, anything nearly 100 years old will have ongoing issues," Benton County Prosecuting Attorney Nathan Smith said. "Judge Moehring and our Quorum Court have done a great job in repairing and updating the courthouse to make it functional. My hope is that this grant will enable them to continue to preserve the historic nature of the courthouse while ensuring that it is functional in the 21st century."
A $3.1 million expansion of the historic courthouse began Feb. 1, 2021, and was completed in January 2022. A new courtroom was needed for Christine Horwart, who became the county's seventh circuit court judge in January 2021.
Horwart's courtroom and office is on the second floor of the addition. A lobby is on the first floor. The expansion added 5,500 square feet to the 28,000-square-foot courthouse.
A vacant, one-story building east of the courthouse was demolished in December 2020 to make way for the expansion. The building had housed the county coroner's office.
The expansion also allowed for expanded parking on the east side of the courthouse and a connecting walkway from the courthouse to the Benton County Administration Building to the east.
The main entrance to the historic courthouse and the expansion is through the judicial tower off East Central Avenue.
It's important to keep the historic integrity of a building while providing updated services, Beeson said.
In November, new restrooms in the judicial tower opened. The public bathrooms on the first, second and third floors were remodeled, and new staff-only restrooms were added on the second and third floors, Beeson said. The Quorum Court used $378,355 in American Rescue Plan Act money for the project, he said.
The bathrooms were 22 years old. The tower is sandwiched between the historic courthouse and old jail.
Also last year, the county fixed a problem in Circuit Judge Robin Green's courtroom on the third floor of the courthouse. The ceiling in Green's courtroom was installed in March 1940. It's an ornate, insulated ceiling that helps reduce noise. The ceiling had deteriorated over the years with paint flaking off, Beeson said.
A nine-panel "drop" ceiling now covers most of the 1,750-square-foot courtroom. The cost was $12,500, he said.
The historic courthouse isn't the oldest building the county owns, Beeson said. The Benton County Health Unit on West University Street in Siloam Springs is in a 3,000-square-foot building that was built in 1901 and acquired by the county in 2008. Over the last five years, the county has upgraded the building's roof, flooring, heating and air conditioning and lighting.
The next oldest county-owned building is the 18,800-square-foot Bogle Family Benton County Public Services facility on Southwest 14th Street in Bentonville. It was built in 1979 and the county has owned it since then, Beeson said.
Courthouse history
The first term of Benton County court was held in the home of County Judge George P. Wallace in April 1837. A small log courthouse was built on the north side of the Bentonville square to house the spring court session in 1838. This served until 1841 when John and William Walker were hired to build a brick building that survived until Union troops burned it in 1862. A new courthouse was not built until 1872. It was three-story Italianate-style building that housed the county jail on the top floor. The courthouse reported in a special session of the county court on Dec. 1, 1926, that a new building was needed and could be erected for around $200,000. The motion for a new building passed 38–14. The cornerstone was laid on April 11, 1928. The courthouse was dedicated Nov. 12, 1928.
Source: Encyclopedia of Arkansas