Courthouse Restoration + 20 Years

DAYTON - When a Town Hall Meeting was held in Dayton in the spring of 1983, a number of well-intentioned suggestions were made to help bring new life to Dayton's tired downtown.

Bill Graham, who had re- cently arrived in town as the new pastor of the First Con- gregational Church, raised his hand and suggested that a complete renovation of the Columbia Courthouse might be just the ticket to beautify the city's center.

Many people at the meet- ing, and around Dayton, questioned whether that was a realistic goal. But the first step necessary in any project was taken: a committee was formed.

Before we get to the won- derful results of that committee's work, some back- ground:

The Columbia County Courthouse was originally completed in 1887. Accord- ing to a history written by Phil Dougherty in 2006, the cost of construction was $38,000. Dougherty says the building almost didn't get built. The citizens of Co- lumbia County twice voted down measures in the early 1880s to build a less expen- sive courthouse, before the current building was finally approved.

The architect was Wil- liam Burrows. Burrows had moved to Dayton with his family in 1878 from Cali- fornia, where he was a suc- cessful builder and designer. He also designed the Dayton Hotel and the First Congregational Church, among other buildings.

Burrows' courthouse de- sign included a beautiful cupola and bronze statues of blind justice over the north and south entrances and bronze eagles on the east and west sides.

In the 1930s, in an attempt to modernize the building's look, the statues and the cupola were removed. The building was painted black and white. In the 1950s, the remaining ornamentation was stripped from the out- side, half the interior stair- way was removed and most of the ceilings were lowered.

In the 1970s, the courthouse was placed on the na- tional historic register. And it was with the building in that condition that the newly formed committee began their work in 1983.

Step one was fundraising. "We kind of flailed around for the first four or five years," Graham said.

The original courthouse renovation committee in- cluded Graham, as chair, Ski Bluewood owner Stan Goodell, Faye Rainwater and Elizabeth Thorn. Gra- ham says that when busi- nesswoman and Dayton native Ginny Butler moved back to town in the late 1980s - and joined the fundraising effort - the group's fundraising efforts took off.

"Ginny had recently led a successful fundraising effort for a school in Tacoma," Graham said, "and she had good connections the rest of us didn't."

Two architects were hired - and let go - before the third, Cardwell/Thomas and Associates of Seattle, was brought on board to complete the design.

The original Victorian de- tails were to be recreated and new cupola and brass sculp- ture reproductions would be added. The large third-floor courtroom would be restored with its original details, and the interior offices would also be restored, but with modern infrastructure. The sheriff's office and jail on the first floor were also mod- ernized.

With an original budget of just under $1 million, work began in 1991. By 1993, the budget had crept up to almost $2 million.

Graham says that about $800,000 was raised from private contributions, includ- ing one donation of $75,000 for the cupola. The remain- der of the money came from corporate donations and government grants.

Approximately $150,000 came from state historic preservation funds and $100,000 in federal funds was used to install the build- ing's new elevator.

Graham credits Congressman Tom Foley and his office for providing a great deal of assistance in obtaining both government grants and corporate donations for the project.

In April 1993, almost exactly ten years after that original town meeting, the beautiful courthouse that we see today on Dayton's Main Street - the oldest operating courthouse in the state - was dedicated.