Lexington, KY - Once upon a time, the community took special pride in the design of its public buildings. For example, compare the Robert F. Stephens Courthouses at the intersection of Limestone and Main with the Lexington History Center in the block on Main Street bounded by North Upper and Cheapside Park, the latter being the former Fayette County Courthouse.
The Stephens Courthouses are blocky designs with interesting, but put-them-anywhere fountains, in a sterile and mostly unshaded plaza. The Lexington History Center, by contrast, features an architecturally significant faÁade alive with symbols emphasizing its initial role as a temple of justice, fronted by a fountain that offers "a refreshing draught to every seeker, man or dog, or bird," according to an editorial in the Nov. 13, 1921, Lexington Leader. And the block is shaded by a variety of stately trees.
"Make no small plans," the sage advises the youngster at his knee. And for early 20th century Lexington, that advice was well taken (and a lesson we as a community seem to have forgotten in this brave new world). As the result of an unfortunate fire in 1897 that destroyed the 1885 courthouse and the magnificent "Woman Triumphant" sculpture by Joel Hart (photos of both are on display in the Lexington History Museum), the 1900 courthouse was built as a replacement.
Designed by the Cleveland, Ohio, architectural firm Lehman & Schmitt, the Richardson Romanesque structure effectively combined the two most popular styles of the day, and "is the largest and most impressive Romanesque revival courthouse in Kentucky," according to Lexington architect Greg Fitzsimons. The building is also significant in four other aspects:
First, the dome design - essentially a half-sphere on top of a cube - presents particularly difficult engineering challenges.
Second, the interior design, according to Fitzsimons, is based on 14th century Tibetan palace architecture, most of which was destroyed in 1960 as the result of a massive adaptive reuse overhaul to upgrade the building from supporting one courtroom to six. Now closed to the public, the dome interior remains preserved in place, with enough of the original architectural details and color palette on which to base a complete restoration of the building interior when funds, projected as high as $25 million, become available.
Third, the dome and interior spaces were an exuberance of light. The dome, representing a night sky over the palace courtyard, with two balconies, featured dozens of lights (the fixtures are still in place). Imagine the site in the evening when the dome was ablaze with light. As one of the city's tallest buildings at the time, the view must have been seen for miles around. Even the risers on the front interior staircase were lighted (the lenses are still in place, although painted over). Seen in the context of the time, Lexington was on the world stage with its courthouse displaying that newfangled "electric light" at the same time Paris was taking the moniker "City of Lights" when it hosted of the 1900 World's Fair. (The building also featured an electric elevator, introduced just 20 years prior.)
Fourth, and most overlooked, are the exterior details added by the masonry subcontractors Tandy & Byrd, an African American firm. Stonemason Henry Tandy, father of renowned architect Vertner Tandy, Sr., is credited with the interesting symbols that surround the Main Street and Short Street entrances and the grand staircase leading to the main doors.
The visitor climbing the stairs is presented with two large urns. Both feature a stern bearded male face and Federal shield. The urn on the left carries the legend "Law," the one on the right "Order;" the reasons one comes to a courthouse. Descending the staircase, however, one is presented with two tranquil female faces, with the words "Liberty" (left) and "Peace" (right) - the expected outcomes of a jury decision.
The Main Street entrance is guarded on each side by two sentinels and a lion. Above both the Main and Short Street entrances on the balcony supports are 12 faces, purportedly representing the 12 jurors who will pass judgment. According to local judicial lore, after young lawyers were admitted to the bar, the judge would escort them outside to observe the 12 faces. "Look closely," he advised. "There are two faces you never want to have seated on your jury: the one who is sleeping and the one winking."
The last major exterior feature was added to the courthouse entrance in 1921 when Lexington philanthropist Maj. Ernest Brennan Ellis donated the ornate granite and bronze drinking fountain at the foot of the main steps.
The fountain is, in fact, three fountains. At the top is a large bowl serving as a birdbath. Rising from the base are four people-size drinking fountains. And at sidewalk level is a fountain labeled, "A Drink for Our Friend." Most striking about the fountain design are the bronze castings of three naked children - two boys and a girl - huddling under the cluster of light globes. The children are all Lexingtonians: the late historian Clay Lancaster, his brother John, and a female cousin.
Of course, in today's overly cautious world, statues of naked children are frowned upon (although the community is graced with another nude casting in the form of the James Lane Allen fountain in Gratz Park, which was his gift to the children of Lexington). Still, the comparison is dramatic as to how the community expressed itself through public architecture in 1900-1921 as opposed to a century later when the Stephens Courthouses opened in 2002. In this single regard, this has definitely not been a "century of progress."