County Seat: Garden City
The 1910 Glasscock County Courthouse was fashioned from pitched face limestone in a Classic Revival Style. In 1909, county bonds issued through the First State Bank of Garden City were used to employ Mutual Construction Company Inc. of Louisville, Ky., and architects Edward C. Hasford & Co., of Dallas, to build the new temple of justice.
Some 16 years prior, the inaugural county courthouse was raised with the ground floor used for court sessions and the second floor as a jail. The building converted to a full-time jail once the second county capitol was commissioned.
The newly restored county capitol features a two-story Greek portico on all four elevations of the building which are supported with four Doric columns and contain ornamented press metal gables. The hip roof originally featured press metal shingles with decorative bands of metal cresting. The body of the limestone-coursed building features plasters pilasters, horizontal masonry banding, and cast stone window and door headers.
The complete restoration of the courthouse included repurposing existing office space; additional attention was given to courtroom renovation, courtroom seating, systems upgrades, data/telephone upgrades, removal and replacement of existing windows and doors, and ADA upgrades. Komatsu Architecture served as the project architect, with KBL Restoration as construction manager at risk.
The key objective in the restoration project was to revive the courthouse to its original state consisting of decorative mosaic tile flooring within the first level corridors. The newly exposed faux subway tile plaster wainscot was restored and repainted to its original color, as well as the extant plaster wall systems. All of the wood floors on the first and second levels were restored with only a few exceptions where damages required replacement of wood slats.
All wood doors were either restored or replicated to reproduce the original look of the 1910 construction. The wood trim was restored or replicated, and an “ebonized” finish was added to provide warmth to the overall look of the courthouse interior. Most rooms had restored pressed metal panels throughout that were repainted to their original color.
During the demolition phase of the project, a faint outline of the original ornate embossed stenciling just under the crown molding was discovered in the district courtroom. With the aid of a local conservator, these elements were restored, providing a beautiful addition to the courtroom setting. With the assistance of one of Garden City’s own citizens, original courtroom seating was provided to the county for total replication in order to fully complement the historic fabric of the courthouse.
Glasscock County will rededicate its new courthouse June 22-23. – Information provided by Komatsu Architecture