Projects

The Campaign to Save a Courthouse

The more-than-100-year-old Mississippi County Courthouse received a new lease on life—and added some “wow” factor along the way.

It’s not every day that a renovation begins its journey as a campaign promise, but that’s exactly how the rehabilitation and expansion of the Mississippi County Courthouse in Blytheville, Arkansas began.

“County Judge John Allen Nelson ran on a platform of keeping [the county’s] courthouses and fixing them up,” Architect Aaron Ruby, of Revival Architecture, explained. “And he won overwhelmingly. His first task as county judge was to go before the voters and ask for the extension of a sales tax that was about to sunset and approve a bond issue that would pay for the project.”

Much to the delight of a strong majority of Mississippi County residents—some 70 percent supported the measure—as well as historic preservationists everywhere, the proposal was approved and a new vision for the courthouse could move forward. Now the real work began.

The building, completed in 1922, was badly in need of everything you’d expect from a 100-year-old civic structure, from a general aesthetic refresh to a focus on modern safety, security, accessibility, and functionality.

Ruby, whose company specializes in preserving and showcasing the stunning architecture of the past, was tasked with planning the courthouse addition. The existing three-story, 18,000 square foot structure would be doubled in size, courtesy of a “sympathetic addition,” a buildout meant to compliment the original building by making use of similar materials and features, but clearly deferential to the existing building.

Considering how something new could elevate something old was nothing new to Ruby, and not just because of his vast experience with historical projects across Arkansas. His deep-seated reverence for classic design started much earlier.

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Project Team

Architect: Revival Architecture

Builder: Construction Network, Inc.

Dealer: E.C. Barton & Company

Project Highlights

Original courthouse windows (inswing casement units) were replicated in the new addition with visually matched, but more cost-effective, Marvin Ultimate fixed-sash double hung windows.

To ensure continuity in the look of the windows, the existing ornate top grille designs were perfectly matched in the new Ultimate windows.

Capturing and continuing the historic and architectural legacy of the more than 100-year-old building was important, so details like the deep jambs and brick moulds were carried forward in the new designs.

“As part of the program at the University of Arkansas, they required a semester study in Rome,” Ruby said. “It exposed me to history and great churches, cathedrals, great buildings; this magnificent architecture that stood for centuries. I just had an immediate respect and love for what previous generations had built.”

The gravity of working on not just a public building, but a courthouse at that, also drove Ruby’s desire for a sort of solemnity, or significance, in design.

“You want people to have that sense of awe and seriousness when they walk into a courtroom,” he said. “They don't have to be told to hush, because there's just an immediate sense that you're in a serious place and we take the law seriously and justice matters.”

It was with that in mind that Ruby went to work. “Those are things that architecture can do; we're happy to play that part and bring it back,” he said.

The plans for the courthouse included a new public entrance, an additional courtroom, the beautification of its grand original courtroom (one of the largest in Arkansas, at some 50 feet by 50 feet, with a 25-foot ceiling), as well as a large amount of new, and historically accurate, windows for the addition.

The windows needed to match the building’s existing units; the plan called for the originals to be retained and restored. For this part of the project, Ruby tapped Marvin architectural project manager Steve Butler for a solution.

The original courthouse windows in question were inswing casement units, complete with an ornate top grille design. Matching those historic details was up to the Marvin team—and where they arrived for the windows was a shining example of how budgets meet needs and where flexibility leads to the perfect solution.

Since I've been working in preservation for so long, I knew Marvin was one of the leading brands, priding themselves on matching historic details,” Ruby said. “And getting those details right.”

When a one-for-one replacement of the original inswing casement windows proved to be too costly for the project budget, an elegant solution was found: a fixed-sash double hung. This window accomplished the same look of the originals, complete with the same deep jamb, brick mould, and eye-catching top grilles, but at a fraction of the cost of the inswing windows.

“I think all parties ended up being really happy,” Butler said.

At the beginning of the project, Ruby said the judge shared with him just one goal for the project: that if people don't walk into the building and say, “Wow,” then we failed.

But now, with the more-than-100-year-old building enjoying a new lease on life, feedback is coming in.

“The judge, thankfully, does share with me that he still takes people through the building,” Ruby said. “He's very proud of it, and people to this day, still say, ‘Wow,’ which is what he had told me he expected. So, he feels like it's mission accomplished.

“I feel really good that we met that goal,” he concluded.

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The inside of the Mississippi County Courthouse, featuring ornate ceilings and Marvin windows.