(Posted Oct. 2, 2015)
By Kristy Zurbrick, Madison Editor
The county is set to celebrate the old and the new.
This month, the Madison County Courthouse at Main and High streets in London turned 125 years old. Last month, the new county municipal court building opened at 55 N. Oak St., London.
To commemorate the old building’s milestone and officially recognize the completion of the new building, the county is holding public open houses at both locations from 4 to 6 p.m. Oct. 7.
The open houses also serve as the launch of repair work on the old courthouse. One of the first tasks will be to repair the roof and some windows to stop water leakage.
The county is purchasing scaffolding to do the job, as well as to make possible an accurate assessment of other work that might be needed, such as repairs to the clock tower. The building is 180 feet tall.
As for when the roof work will begin, Madison County Commissioner Paul Gross said, “We’re waiting on feedback from the structural engineers. We’ll likely have that in November.” The building’s original blueprints are missing, which makes for an added challenge.
Another task, already in progress, is to alleviate weight stress on the old building’s attic by removing many decades’ worth of records. Some of the records are finding a new home at the new municipal court building.
“We’re slowly and systematically emptying the contents,” Gross said.
