News about the Confederate Memorial at the Courthouse

Confederate Monument Likely to Remain in Courthouse Square

The county’s Monuments and Memorials Committee has asked the architectural firm that is working on the renovation of the Botetourt County Courthouse to include a place for the county’s Confederate Monument somewhere in the vicinity.

Steve Clinton, Amsterdam District Supervisor, told the Board at its December 2020 meeting that the committee was waiting on a report from Architectural Partners of Lynchburg, but he thought that the monument would remain around the courthouse area.

The monument would be removed during construction and relocated at a different site near the courthouse.

“There are diverse needs and expectations of a diverse county,” he said.

The committee for the courthouse renovation project is reviewing three different options for the courthouse project, Richard Bailey, Fincastle District Supervisor, told the Board.

“This is a project that is necessary from a lot of angles,” he said, including handicapped access, safety, and security of personnel.

The courthouse renovation is one of the county’s largest capital improvement projects since it constructed the new jail. It will be years before it is complete.

Members of the committee overseeing the project include two county supervisors, county officials, the Mayor of Fincastle, the Circuit Court Clerk, and the County Registrar.

A member of the Botetourt County Historical Society also attends the meetings.

Discussion thus far indicates that most want to see the courthouse facade remain the same, according to Clinton.

The structure must be brought into compliance with current standards for justice facilities. That means improving security, adding offices, changing the interior flow of traffic, upgrading aesthetics, and replacing the HVAC.

The facilities will house the Circuit Court, the Commonwealth’s Attorney, the Voter Registrar, the Clerk of the Circuit Court’s Office, and related functions. “The solution will probably be a renovated and enlarged courts facility, with perhaps a few “new” ancillary buildings, but NOT a “new courthouse,” Clinton emphasized in an email in November.

The budget process for fiscal year 2020-2021 is barely underway and no funds have been set aside for this project. In January, the county sent out a press release estimating the new construction could cost at least $15 million.

“The current Courthouse in its present configuration is reaching the end of its useful life,” said County Administrator Gary Larrowe said in the January press release. “The opportunity to find a long-term solution to the Courthouse while also consolidating County offices for increased efficiency is a win-win.”

The project is in its early stages. Clinton said a design proposal and initial report could go before the Board of Supervisors as early as the March 2021 meeting.

                                                — Anita Firebaugh, Special to the Botetourt Bee, Photo by Cathy Benson