The Bartlett Brothers of Whately built the present Richardsonian Romanesque building at a cost of $68,000, according to Ford.
The old Hampshire County Courthouse on Main Street in Northampton.
NORTHAMPTON – The Hampshire Council of Governments is planning to spruce up the historic Hampshire County Courthouse by renovating the 124-year-old building from top to bottom.
The council recently awarded a $30,000 contract to Boston Bay Architects and Monaco Restoration to assess and prioritize the building’s needs. Dedicated in 1887, the building needs work inside and out, according to Todd D. Ford, the executive director of the Hampshire Council of Governments.
“You walk up the steps and you can see it needs to be renovated,” he said.
Among other problems, the roof leaks and the facade needs to be repointed, Ford said. Boston Bay Architects will come up with a prioritized list of improvements, he said. The assessment will begin on Monday when workers, using a crane, will inspect the roof. Ford said he expects to have a report on the building’s needs by the end of June.
According to Ford, the courthouse site was the scene of an early incident in Shays' Rebellion, an 18th century uprising in which Massachusetts farmers marched against the government to protest foreclosures and economic conditions. A meeting house was built on the same site, but it burned in 1866. The Paul Revere bell from that building is on display in the current courthouse.
Mel Gibson walks down the steps of the Hampshire County Courthouse in the 2008 movie "Edge of Darkness."The Bartlett Brothers of Whately built the present Richardsonian Romanesque building at a cost of $68,000, according to Ford. It is part of Northampton’s Downtown Historic District. The Hampshire Council of Governments owns the building and the land surrounding it. Since the state abolished county government in 1999, the Council of Governments has reinvented itself. It now acts mainly as a group-purchasing agent, selling energy and insurance to area communities.
Some of the renovation cost is being paid by the Grousbeck Fund, which was established in memory of Irving Harold Grousbeck, the Northampton City Solicitor from 1928 to 1932 and District Attorney from 1944 to 1946. A grant from the Massachusetts Historical Commission will also go towards the project. Ford said the council will undertake a fund-raising campaign to finance the balance of the cost.
In addition to the Hampshire Council of Governments offices, the old courthouse is home to the Hampshire Law Library, the Trial Court and the Housing Court Mediation Service. The state leases the big courtroom on the top floor, but it has been used mostly for ceremonial purposes since a new adjacent courthouse was constructed in 1976.