Lexington, KY - For 102 years, the Old Fayette County Courthouse served that purpose until the last trial ended on Feb. 7, 2002, and work began to repurpose the Richardson Romanesque structure that reopened in October 2003 as the Lexington History Center.
During the span of more than a century, many things changed in the building - and many things, surprisingly, stayed the same.
Take, for instance, the massive changes that occurred in 1961 when the magnificent staircase was demolished, the original marble floor replaced with mid-century terrazzo tile, and the dome closed. Many visitors are horrified to learn about the destruction until they realize that were it not for the adaptive reuse that converted the one-room courthouse to a six-room structure that could serve 1960 Lexington's needs, the building may very well have been torn down and replaced with a less-majestic structure.
This is just one of many secrets the old building serves up, many times on her own terms.
Start at the foundation. The corner stone at Short and Upper Streets has the legend "Erected 1898." That is the year the first layer of limestone was laid. But the foundation under the structure actually dates from 1885, the year its predecessor was built. Down in the basement, closed up arched doorways are echoes from that earlier, ill-fated structure that burned in 1897.
Even entering the building, secrets are in full view, but often overlooked. First, walking up the front steps, more secrets come into view. Look closer at the stone risers. Here remain pockmarks from bullets fired during the Feb. 9, 1920, riot that occurred when admitted murderer Will Lockett was being transferred to the courthouse from the Frankfort penitentiary for trial. The governor called out the National Guard, who ringed the promenade around the courthouse, and set up a machine gun nest on the right side of the front steps. Shots were fired, some were killed, many more injured.
Second, inside the front door, stop before walking up the steps: Each of the eight risers contains a row of 16 (painted over) lenses, each lit with a bulb from beneath the stairway. That's 128 light bulbs blindingly confronting the pre-1961 visitor. The stairway treatment is so unusual that LIFE magazine featured it in a photo essay on the Old Courthouse.
On the wall of the main floor hangs a photomural from that LIFE article of the magnificent "steamboat" staircase (think "Titanic"). The staircase was designed in a way that each flight was shaped like a "Y" that channeled traffic to one side or another of each floor. It was designed for early steamboats, hence the name. The architectural features in the photograph are based on 14th century Tibetan palace design.
Come up to the third floor (taking the elevators now occupying the space of the old stairs) and enter the original 1900 Courtroom, the only one of the six to survive the repurposing of the building as a museum; the others are exhibit galleries or storage spaces. This space was actually two stories high, with the same Tibetan features. Tibet? In 1900 Lexington? The answer to this secret may never be revealed.
What is not apparent in the photo is that the original courtroom contained a balcony on the south side of the room to accommodate African Americans and white females who were not permitted on the main floor.
Finally, were you permitted access to the extant dome (prohibited because of issues related to asbestos and lead paint), you would come upon an interior space regarded as the finest in Fayette County - preserved in place, waiting to be restored.
The dome majestically rises some 52 feet above the current "fifth" floor, not original to the 1900 design. In fact, the dome rose more than 110 feet above the ground floor, then observed through the open spaces on each side of the lost "steamboat" staircase.
Here, visitors stand in awe, even though much of the dome is cluttered with massive ducts, pipes and machinery related to the obsolete and no longer operating heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) components. Two balconies based on, you guessed it, Tibetan palace architecture surround all four sides of the interior, a cube surmounted by the half-sphere constituting the dome - a rare architectural feat. The underside of the dome was painted blue as a night sky complete with "stars" in the form of 64 light bulbs. The lower balcony is lined with another 64 lights, suggesting a brilliant illumination that could be seen for quite a distance. (The courthouse opened the same year as the International Exhibition in Paris, France, from which that city became known as "The City of Lights.")
Most of the original architectural fabric is extant, and what is missing could easily be replicated. In fact, when the Scott County Courthouse (designed by the same Cleveland firm Lehman & Schmitt) was restored, the dome's color palette was employed.
If you are fortunate to visit the museum on the hour, the bell that tolls is the same bell from the 1806 courthouse that stood on this spot. And the sound you hear is the same sound heard by Mary Todd, Jefferson Davis, Henry Clay, Aaron Burr, Abraham Lincoln and other famous citizens and visitors in the past 204 years.
So, what would it take to renovate and restore the building to its original 1900 design, upgraded to modern amenities? Based on the original 1999 estimates, updated by the Lexington Fayette Urban-County Government in 2008, an "upgrade" of the building's HVAC system, elevators and other improvements is in the range of $8 million. A complete restoration, including replacing the "steamboat" staircase, opening the dome, raising the original courtroom ceiling to two stories, and restoring the stained glass windows would be upwards of $23 million.
The greatest secret, however, may be that the Lexington History Center, located on the court square designated by the Virginia Assembly in 1788 - four years before Kentucky became the 15th state - as the location for the Fayette County Courthouse, is still the "official" county seat.