Brown County Courthouse gets several new additions, fixtures

MT. STERLING, Ill. (WGEM) - Several new additions and fixtures are coming to the Brown County Courthouse.

Brown County board members said they approved an approximate $4,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money to cover the cost of two courtroom tables and a jury table in place of the century old ones.

Board chairman Dave Ferrill said they also got an emergency lighting system for their emergency services in the event of a catastrophe.

“The courthouse was built in the 1800s,” Ferrill said. “So it does at that age need a lot of maintenance. It would be very expensive to build a new courthouse beyond our means. So, we are trying to keep it maintained.”

Ferrill said work is wrapping up on an interior paint job and a $60,000 repair on the courthouse’s roof that was damaged from the hail storm in 2021.

“We found there were some issues with guttering and soffit,” Ferrill said. “And we got that repaired so we’re still able to keep the same historic architectural value there.”

Ferrill said looking ahead one item on the board’s wish list is to build a cupola that the courthouse originally had but was destroyed by a fire in the 1940s.

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