Augusta County officials held a cornerstone ceremony on Monday at the new courthouse, which is in the final stages of construction. Its opening will mark a new era in a county that predates the U.S. government. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports.
[sound of wind blowing, trowel scraping, applause]
County leaders and contractors gathered outside the nearly-completed Augusta County Courthouse in Verona to ceremoniously apply mortar to the building's cornerstone. The 124,000 square foot brick-and-white column edifice will house the county's entire court system under one roof come June.
The county's legal apparatus is currently split between the ornate 1901 circuit courthouse and the more austere general district courthouse in downtown Staunton. The new complex features more courtroom space to accommodate increasing caseloads, modern technology and architectural design to ensure security.
TIM FITZGERALD: So from a security standpoint, not only for our staff, but for the citizens that come here, and for the inmates that may come from the jail that have to go to court, the security is so important, and this state of the art system is second to none.
County Administrator Tim Fitzgerald has worked on this project for more than a decade. In a county-wide 2016 referendum, voters chose not to move the courthouse. Negotiations broke down between the county and city over renovating the existing circuit courthouse. In 2021, the court's chief judge entered an order for the board of supervisors to somehow address facility conditions, which were "insecure, out of repair," and posed "health, welfare, and safety" hazards.
In 2022, a second referendum was held, and county voters approved building a new courthouse in Verona for $80 million, instead of staying in Staunton for about $104 million. The Staunton plan's higher cost was due in part to the logistics of demolishing and rebuilding within city confines, and the need for temporary court facilities in the meantime. Builders broke ground in Verona two years ago this month. Fitzgerald said they don't have a total price tag for the project yet – but they've stayed true to their word.
FITZGERALD: It is going to come in less than $80 million. The building construction itself I think is around $56 million or so, but that includes site work and grading and roadwork and those types of things, but we will be under budget overall.
HAGI: … Is there a plan for what's going to happen with the old courthouse?
FITZGERALD: So, a lot of folks have asked, and I know folks in the community want to know. I would say that what I can say right now is we're in some discussions with folks, and to stay tuned.
The target open date is June 15. On that day, the county seat will shift to Verona – after 281 years of Staunton holding that position. According to the 1882 chronicle "History of Augusta County, Virginia," the county was established under British rule in 1738 from parts of then-Orange County, and it stretched all the way to the Mississippi River. "From its ancient territory were subsequently carved the present states of West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and part of Pennsylvania." For several years, European settlers in Augusta had to travel over the mountains to Orange to conduct legal business. That inconvenience led to the organization of the county seat of Staunton in 1745, along with the area's first courthouse.
With the establishment of a new center for legal and administrative affairs, the county is placing a time capsule in the building to carry pieces of the present into the next century or two. Officials haven't stipulated a certain date when it should be opened.
CANDY HENSLEY: And I kind of foresee it happening, maybe when there's some place down the road, it could be a hundred years from now, that we do an addition to the building. That might be a good time to open it up, see what was in there … see what's changed in the world and then close it back up with something else.
Candy Hensley is the project manager for the county. The time capsule includes construction photos, progress reports, yard signs from both referendums –
HENSLEY: And we've even got some coins, pennies, because pennies are becoming obsolete – we've got those in there, and some challenge coins from different agencies like fire and rescue, and from the sheriff's office, circuit court …
Both Hensley and Director of Facilities Management Rusty Sprouse stressed the importance of having separate pathways for judges, the public, and incarcerated defendants to navigate the building.
RUSTY SPROUSE: The county has gone a long way to try to be fiscally responsible, and stewards of their funding. One of the biggest things for me is just the circulation in the building – to where the public, the staff, and the inmates will never cross paths other than in the courtroom, which we do not have that currently.
HENSLEY: Unfortunately, the world is not as safe as it used to be. … What transpires in the next 100 years, 200 years, is scary to think about, but hopefully it's kind of the same in a lot of ways – it's still safe, it's still secure, it might just need to be larger because of the population and caseloads – court caseloads or that kind of thing.
A ribbon-cutting event is planned for June 3, when the public will be able to tour the building — in fair Verona, where we lay our county seat.
