Public invited to open house April 20 to see old Lenawee County Courthouse renovations

ADRIAN — The community is invited to an open up house to see the recently renovated old Lenawee County Courthouse subsequent week.

The open property will be from 3 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 20, in accordance to a information launch from the county administrator’s office environment. The courthouse is at 301 N. Primary St.

There will be a movie that will take guests as a result of the renovation approach, and reps from the a variety of trades that worked on the project have been invited to give facts as individuals tour.

There will also be county associates available to chat with individuals about their offices and county functions. County administrator Martin Marshall indicates people today think about bringing their families to visit.

Right after just about two yrs of get the job done commencing and stopping and starting off yet again and dealing with the backlogs in acquiring orders of making elements due to the pandemic, the renovations had been generally comprehensive in mid-December and Lenawee County workforce ended up back in their aged places of work.

Marshall and other county workforce claimed the renovations allow for the historic making to keep on to be a landmark and be relished by people for a long time to come.

Marshall had wished to see the renovations choose area for 15 a long time, but the methods and the men and women did not appear together until eventually 2020. The scheduling commenced in 2018 when the county was doing the job on renovations at the Sheriff’s Place of work making.

“The true function started in February of 2020, but then, of training course with COVID hitting, we had been shut down,” Marshall explained. “We moved out of the aged courthouse into the annex the initially 7 days of February and then the project genuinely took off in June 2020.”

As component of the renovations, a amount of things were being ripped out.

For case in point, the enclosed stairways were being opened up. The rotunda in the center of the setting up was opened up so that just one can see from the second floor down to the principal floor.

“One of the new functions that I feel individuals are heading to recognize is the stained glass dome that was set up. There was usually a glass dome, but it was frosted glass, and with air conditioning set into the attic, a ton of the warmth that would have come down as a result of there had been shut off. So now we have a stained glass dome with artificial mild guiding it to gentle it up and make it glimpse superior all day extended,” Marshall explained.

Tale proceeds

In the outdated courtroom, which is now the county commission chambers, the ceiling was opened up. The staff went back up to what they thought was the initial ceiling but arrived to uncover out there was a ceiling but higher than that. They restored the ceiling down below that.

The constructing was cleaned and power washed. The masonry was fixed. Some of the sandstone experienced problems in it. The defects ended up chiseled absent and then patched with a compound that is more durable than sandstone but seems to be like the primary sandstone. The dome and wooden trim on the exterior of the developing were being repainted.

Persons may well discover a pair of refined distinctions from how the courthouse seemed in advance of the renovations: the dome and the floral accents located in the plaster in the courthouse are painted white.

“I believe that the renovated setting up seems to be excellent and I have heard almost nothing but beneficial opinions about the undertaking,” Marshall claimed in an electronic mail. “This is undoubtedly a undertaking that I have had on my mind for a number of years and I am very pleased that we ended up capable to make it take place.”

This write-up at first appeared on The Each day Telegram: Open up house to present aged Lenawee County Courthouse renovations