The Butler County Courthouse in Hamilton has undergone about $2 million in work since 1996. (Dick Swaim photo) | ZOOM |

        With its double-pitched roof, ornate stone cornices and hand-carved interior woodwork, the Butler County Courthouse evokes the era of horse-drawn carriages and gas street lamps.

        But even in today's digital age, the 19th-century Butler County Courthouse commands center stage in downtown Hamilton. Since 1996, $2 million has been spent renovating and restoring the courthouse, built for $305,000 in the late 1880s.

        That work illustrates the importance that counties, in Ohio and nationally, have attached to restoring courthouses to their glory. Measured in dollars, the tab is startling: more than $100 million the past decade in 22 Ohio counties.

        Experts know of no other state in the Midwest that has spent more on its county courthouses.

        And Southwest Ohio has led the state's spending, with about $27 million spent among six counties since 1990. That is more than any other region in the state.

        Still, a truer measure may be how much communities treasure the old buildings.

Clinton County has completed a $1.1 million restoration, including work on the rotunda. (Tony Jones photo) | ZOOM |

        “It's really exciting to see all that restoration,” said Steve Gordon, survey and national register manager of the Ohio Historical Society. “The public loves those buildings. For a long time, counties were making insensitive alterations to historic courthouses.”

        Across the United States, it's the same story.

        “It's absolutely a national phenomenon,” said Bob Loversidge, CEO of Schooley Caldwell Associates. That is an architectural firm in Columbus that has restored Ohio's Statehouse and several Ohio county courthouses, including Butler County's.

        “They're monumental, wonderful historic buildings that are a great source of pride to their communities,” said Mr. Loversidge, who chaired a national conference on county courthouse restoration three years ago in Cincinnati.

        “Because they're so old, a lot of these courthouses are worn out and need a lot of work. Many counties throughout the country have decided to reinvest in them so they get another 100 years out of them.”

        The wave of courthouse restorations hasn't been fueled by federal or state dollars — except in Texas, which started a $50 million county courthouse restoration program in 1999. Counties generally have had to spend their own money on these restoration projects.

        Preservationists say it's worth every penny.

        “It gives people a tie to their roots to see these courthouses,” said Susan W. Thrane, who wrote a County Courthouses of Ohio, which was published in November. “In this technological age, the old courthouses give a kind of stability to the communities.”
       

Changing role
               The role of the Butler County Courthouse has changed significantly since the construction last year of the towering, concrete-and-steel Government Services Center, two blocks down High Street.

RENOVATION EXPENSES

Ohio's top ten spending counties on courthouse renovation since 1990:   • Hamilton: $20.4 million   • Stark: $11 million   • Trumbull: $10 million   • Henry: $4.3 million   • Hancock: $3 million   • Warren: $2.3 million   • Butler: $2 million   • Lucas: $2 million   • Union: $2 million   • Licking: $1.5 million

        The common pleas courts and the clerk of courts office left the historic building to move into the new structure.

        The courthouse exterior has been restored, and the interior restoration of its first floor is near completion.

        Woodwork has been stripped to its original finish, interior walls have been knocked out and dropped ceilings have been removed, revealing hand-carved archways and wood trim.

        Over the next five years, the second, third and fourth floors will be restored.

        “The courthouse is the symbol of the whole county,” Butler County Commissioner Courtney Combs said. “It is the one building that has the complete history of the county. That's the reason we feel committed to restoring it properly and using it as a courthouse.”

        Many other county courthouses in the Tristate besides Butler's have been renovated in recent years:

        • Hamilton County has spent $20.4 million renovating its 1918 courthouse during the past 10 years. That renovation work has included some historic restoration, such as preserving original judicial benches and creating new courtrooms in the style of the older ones.

        • Two years ago, Warren County's $2.3 million renovation of its 1835 courthouse included some historic restoration. The old courthouse in Lebanon is used as a county administration building.

        • Clinton County recently completed a three-year, $1.1 million interior restoration of its 1919 courthouse. Workers restored walls, ceilings, the dome and bronze statues. In the entryway, they uncovered hand-painted murals, which have been restored.

        • Indiana's Dearborn County is in the midst of a $4.4 million renovation of its 1873 courthouse in Lawrenceburg.

        • Clermont County built a large addition to its 1935 courthouse two years ago. The county replaced the windows of the old courthouse with ones of the same architectural style.

        • Through private fund-raising, Brown County reconstructed its 1851 courthouse that was severely damaged in a 1977 fire. The courthouse, the centerpiece of Georgetown, opened in 1986.

        • In Northern Kentucky, Boone County plans an exterior restoration next year of its courthouse, which opened in 1889 and rests on the site of the original 1799 courthouse.

        “It is a focal point for all of Boone County and certainly for the town of Burlington,” said Kevin Costello, executive director of the Boone County Planning Commission. “It's great that this landmark will be restored.”

        The old courthouse will be used for county offices even after the courts move into a new county courthouse that will open in 2002 a half-block away.
       

Work unopposed
               Unlike some high-profile, publicly funded projects, the county courthouse restorations in the Tristate and around Ohio have encountered little or no opposition.

        Even the pro-taxpayers group that protested the $121 million renovation of Ohio's Statehouse four years ago has generally been amenable to county courthouse renovations.

        “As long as they keep it reasonable and bid the work, we're not concerned,” said Scott Pullins, president of the Ohio Taxpayers Association. “These are important historic sites, and they should be preserved.”

        Hamilton County didn't hesitate to spend money to preserve and update its massive courthouse, featuring marble floors, granite columns and limestone vaulting.

        Unlike Franklin County, which demolished its historic courthouse in the 1970s, Hamilton County decided that it made aesthetic and economic sense to preserve its courthouse as a fully functioning courthouse.

        The 10-year, $20 million renovation, which ended last year, was one of the most ambitious county courthouse renovation projects in Ohio in recent decades.

        “It's a magnificent building,” Mr. Loversidge said. “They did a great job of renovating it.”

        No one has argued about the need to preserve the Butler County Courthouse.

        Like many other public buildings constructed during the Gilded Age, it is ornate and majestic. It sits on raised ground in the middle of its own square, one block from the Great Miami River.

        For many years, George H. Elliott, retired Butler County Common Pleas judge, led courthouse restoration efforts. “I have a long-standing love affair with that building,” Mr. Elliott said. “I'm just delighted there are people who are interested in keeping it up and honoring it.”

        Probate Court Judge Randy Rogers recently formed the Butler County Courthouse Historical Society to preserve the building's heritage and history.

        “There's no reason why it can't remain a courthouse for the next 50 to 100 years,” he said.

        David Eck contributed to this report.
       

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