Saturday, June 29, 2024
When the Coryell County Commissioners Court met on June 11, a firm was chosen to create the Master Plan for the courthouse. In a previous comment, Coryell County Attorney Brandon Belt described the need for such a document. “A Master Plan is required to apply for grant funds to work on the courthouse. The purpose of a Master Plan is to evaluate the current state of the courthouse and set priorities for rehabilitating and maintaining the building. A professional Preservation Architect is hired to assist in developing the plan to preserve and maintain the courthouse.”
According to Belt, the Texas State Historical Commission states, “A good Master Plan includes a history of the building, historic photos and drawings, a thorough evaluation of existing conditions and a plan for the future, with an estimated budget for all the proposed work.”
Danny Corbett, Chairman of the Coryell County Historical Association, said “Having a courthouse Master Plan is imperative should the county seek grant funds from the Texas Historical Commission, whether it be a full restoration grant or even an emergency grant for things such as a leaky roof. The plan will provide a roadmap for maintenance and preservation of this historic resource in the future.”
On May 28th, the Coryell Commissioners Court selected the top 3 respondents, Architexas, O’Connell, and Komatsu for the courthouse Master Plan with interviews with each firm held on June 6th. The Coryell County Historical Commission was asked to be present at each of the interviews. At the Commissioner Court meeting held on June 11, a representative from the Coryell County Historical Commission, Sherry Lawrence, addressed the court with her observations on each of the three firms.
Judge Roger Miller asked Lawrence to share her assessment of the proposed firms. “After three very good presentations in this important endeavor, I really don’t think we could go wrong in the companies we were considering, but my opinion, and also that of Danny Corbell who is our historical commission chairman, feel like the Architexas company would probably be the best choice. I was impressed with the fact that they had worked on two Dodson courthouses already and had successfully obtained an approved master plan with those courthouses.” [Several courthouses in Texas were built by architect Wesley Dodson].
Lawrence continued, “The other thing I was impressed with was that they [Architexas] seemed, just off the top of their heads, to come up with some outside funding possibilities for our courthouse restoration and repairs – some federal grants, TxDOT, universities, philanthropists, and they seemed to have those names at hand, better than the other two. Their presentation brought a lot of important things to light.”
Following Lawrence’s comments, Judge Miller said, “I would echo Sherry’s sentiments. I thought there were three very good interviews. From my own standpoint, Architexas would be my choice.”
The county commissioners agreed and made a motion to select Architexas as the firm to develop the Master Plan for the courthouse. The commissioners unanimously voted to accept their bid and the motion was carried.
