Cumberland County cut the ribbon Friday at the renovated historic courthouse, preserving the 1905 landmark for future generations.
Mayor Allen Foster said the renovation included both repairs and modernization. Foster said the project also involved remediating asbestos found within the structure, which includes the original 1905 section and an addition built in the 1970s.
“We’ve tried to preserve as much as we could, but we’ve also put a modern touch on it, you know?” Foster said. “We’ve done the flooring, painting, cleaned it all up, fixed the bathrooms, new heating and air systems, electric, plumbing. So we’re good to go for quite some time.”
Foster said the construction crew discovered that the original builders used manual labor to install concrete flooring on the upper level in 1905. Foster said this historical construction method actually saved modern taxpayers money by making the current structural repairs easier to complete.
“One of the things I think the public will really like seeing is we were able to keep, expose some of the brick that’s original to the building and I think it’s just given it a beautiful touch,” Foster said.
Foster said the building previously housed the court clerk and the sheriff’s department before those services moved to other locations. Foster said the courthouse remains a destination for visitors who want to see the original bell tower and clock, which are being restored to working order.
“I believe that this courthouse is Cumberland County’s version of the White House,” Foster said. “It’s something that should be respected and taken care of. We gotta, we gotta preserve our history so that the younger generations know where we’ve come from and how we got here.”
Foster said the county intends for the restored space to serve as an inviting location for public events in downtown Crossville.