Editorial: Courthouse funds lacking

Posted: Sunday, July 11, 2010

An old courthouse building has been made pretty on the outside, but it's still horribly dilapidated on the inside.

The news, however, might only be getting worse for those who want to restore the 1909 Randall County Courthouse building in Canyon.

The state is so short of money that it's having to come up with as much as $18 billion in savings to balance its budget for the next two years.

One source of restoring the inside of the county courthouse structure, therefore, has all but disappeared.

The absence of money for interior renovation now begs the question: What in the world is the county going to do with a building that has no practical use?

This is the situation in which Randall County finds itself.

Voters approved a referendum in 2008 to allow the county to spend public money on restoring the exterior of the building. The county complied with the voters' mandate, kicking in local tax money to finish off a $3 million renovation that included reinstalling a clock tower atop the 101-year-old structure.

But because the state money came from the Texas Historical Commission, the county now must demolish the North Annex next to the old building to make the courthouse retain its historic appearance; the annex was added much later than the courthouse's original construction the early 20th century.

The historical agency plans to ask legislators for money to continue operation. But honestly, it's hard to imagine how the state will justify spending money on courthouse restoration when it faces a budget deficit that threatens programs that are absolutely necessary - you know, things like public schools, highway maintenance and construction and law enforcement.

On Tuesday, county commissioners will begin meeting in the county finance building. The annex will come down. The county already has moved its criminal justice operation into the Justice Center about a mile from the Courthouse Square.

What, then, is left for the abandoned - and deteriorating - 1909 Courthouse?