Commissioners approve $10 million grant request to restore Courthouse

Gonzales County Commissioners adopted a resolution Wednesday, May 1, to support a grant application for up to $10 million in funding from the Texas Historical Commission to restore the Gonzales County Courthouse.

Commissioners also approved making the grant funding request for the full amount of $10 million and pledged to commit $3.808 million in local funds to support restoration efforts for the building, which has a number of identified areas of concern which need to be addressed in order to preserve its structural integrity and functionality. Commissioners do not know yet where the matching funds will come from.

In other action, commissioners granted a preservation easement to the THC if they are awarded a grant from the Texas Historic Courthouse Preservation Program (THCPP). At this time, until the city presents a resolution to convey an easement for the use of Block 25, which includes the Courthouse, to the county, that item has been tabled.

The county has until 5 p.m. Monday, May 13, to submit a THCPP application under the 2024-25 Round XIII grant cycle. The 88th Texas Legislature allocated just $45 million for the cycle and counties may receive up to $10 million to go for full restoration construction, the development of architectural construction documents, or to address critical needs that endanger the building or its occupants.

Grant applications will be scored by the Texas Historical Commission and then awards announced at the Friday, July 26, THC quarterly meeting.

Gonzales County contracted with Tere O’Connell of O’Connell Architecture LLC for $219,000 to create a master plan for the Courthouse, a final draft of which had to be submitted to THC by April 5 in order to be eligible to apply for grant funding. O’Connell was present Wednesday to go over the master plan and grant application. She said the master plan has been accepted by THC.

Working with O’Connell Architecture on the Gonzales County Courthouse project are WJE Engineering, which will be responsible for structural engineering and waterproofing services, and HMG Engineering, which will be responsible for mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering.

Among the problems with the Courthouse that were documented by the team were leaking fenestrations, wood frame deterioration, standing water that will not drain in the basement and masonry issues, along with challenges to add HVAC to the building due to the wrought-iron interior structure.

The county did not previously have an official “master plan” for the Courthouse. A plan created by John Volz of Volz & Associates in 1993 only addressed immediate structural deficiencies in the Courthouse tower and was not truly a “master plan,” said O’Connell, who was part of the Volz team that helped design the late-1990s restoration of the Gonzales County Courthouse prior to the creation of the THCPP by the Texas Legislature.

The current red brick with white limestome trim Gonzales County Courthouse was designed by famed architect J. Riely Gordon and was completed in 1896 at a cost of $64,450 after the original burned down December 3, 1893 — more than 130 years ago. Gordon used a Romanesque Revival design that featured a Greek cross layout complete with corner entrances and a rotunda. A new roof was put on the building in 1958. It is believed to be the oldest J. Reily Gordon-designed courthouse to not have been restored under a THCPP grant.

The Gonzales County Courthouse was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1966 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.

To date, the THCPP has funded the restoration of 77 Texas courthouses and another 26 courthouses have received emergency or planning grants. Another 45 courthouses have approved master plans or master plans pending approval from THC.

That leaves 97 counties, including Gonzales County, which have historic courthouses eligible to participate in the program and another nine which are either not 50 years old or are not owned by the county or city and thus are ineligible.

Gonzales has the 12^th oldest courthouse of those which have not yet been renovated through THCPP, behind Concho, Bastrop, Pecos, Clay, Bell, Coleman, Brewster, Jasper, Hill, Haskell and Medina. Of those, only Pecos, Jasper and Haskell did not already have approved master plans on file with THC.

Commissioners also heard from O’Connell Architecture regarding recommendations to address structural failures at the county annex building on Sarah DeWitt Drive, which had to be vacated in December 2023 due to concerns about structural stability. Because this 43-year-old building is not old enough to qualify as a historic building, the county has less hoops to jump through when it comes to fixing the issues at that structure than addressing needs at the Courthouse.

Due to press time, the Inquirer will have a larger story on the meeting and what changes could be expected to take place at the Courthouse if the grant is awarded in the May 9 edition.