A group is forming to begin planning a celebration of the centennial of the Greene County courthouse two years from now.
Don Van Gilder, a county secondary roads employee who is unofficially courthouse historian, got the go-ahead to begin planning from the county board of supervisors Monday. “We’re coming up on 100 years for the Old Girl, and I think it’d be appropriate to have a re-dedication and a celebration of some kind to mark the event,” Van Gilder told the supervisors.
Construction began in 1915 and was completed, and a dedication was held, in October, 1917. “I figure if we have at least two years to put together a celebration, I think that would be appropriate…. If they could build it in two years, we ought to be able to plan an event in two years,” he said.
Van Gilder has already enlisted the support of members of the Greene County Historical Society. He plans to recruit a “a half dozen hand-picked historians who are equipped to put on a big event,” and begin brainstorming ideas after the first of the year.
Prior to 2017, he hopes to develop and print a “tourism-type” brochure about the courthouse. He said he is often asked about printed material as he leads tours of the courthouse.
Van Gilder’s conversation with the supervisors came after discussion of the repairs needed to the stained glass domes. (See related post on GreeneCountyNewsOnline.) Van Gilder said original cost of construction was $179,000. The supervisors commented that repair work to the large dome costs nearly that much. (According to internet resources used by GreeneCountyNewsOnline, adjusted for inflation, the construction cost of the courthouse in 2014 dollars is more than $3.3 million.)
Watch for more information in the coming months.
