The Chase County Courthouse, which sits at the end of downtown Cottonwood Falls, has been a Flint Hills icon for more than a century. The courthouse, which still serves as the functioning county offices, is undergoing a .4 million interior renovation.

Cottonwood Falls ? Turn down the brick road that is this town’s main street, Broadway, and you’ll see a cafe, a candy store, a gas station and other shops you might expect in a town of 950.

What you won’t expect to see – unless you know about the town’s treasure – is the Chase County Courthouse.

It’s a majestic, white limestone structure that pierces the blue sky at the end of the main drag. It looks like a larger-than-life dollhouse out of place among typical small-town structures.

“It’s unexpected,” says Ruth Childs, who loves this building. “I’d say it’s the heart of the community, in the broad sense of the word, since it’s our county seat. It’s our identification.”

Childs, a member of the Chase County Courthouse Preservation Committee, hopes it stays that way for future generations.

She’s helping to oversee a $2.4 million interior renovation and restoration of the structure, which she and others hope will make it both picturesque and more functional.

“It just needs a new era starting with this renovation, so we can use it for years to come,” Childs says.

‘Favorite building’

Some people here call it the oldest continuously operating courthouse west of the Mississippi, though the courthouse built in 1847 in Lafayette, Mo., makes the same claim.

The Chase County Courthouse was finished in 1873. It was designed by Lawrence architect John G. Haskell, who also constructed the state Capitol, a handful of Lawrence churches and several buildings on the Kansas University campus, among others locally and across the state.

Since then, the courthouse has been an icon of the Flint Hills, as well as of the entire state.

“Here is this small county with a small population, and they were thinking very, very big in the 19th century,” says Christy Davis, owner of Davis Preservation in Topeka, who has consulted on several projects related to the building. “If you ask people what the most significant building in the state is, they’ll tell you the Statehouse. If you ask them their favorite building, if they know something about architecture, they’ll tell you the Chase County Courthouse.”

The courthouse, which cost $43,000, is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Needed improvements

Time, technology and modern needs have taken a toll on the building.

The beautiful walnut bannister that weaves its way up the middle of the three-story building also is a reminder that the courthouse isn’t accessible under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

County offices were moved out of the building during the week of May 6. They’ll be housed in a municipal building for the next year to 18 months, until the improvements are finished.

The renovations – which started last week – will add an elevator. They also will provide new paint, carpet, heating and air conditioning; reconfigure some office spaces; repair holes in the roof and walls; and upgrade electrical systems to support computer systems and hide conduit.

“It needs renovating desperately,” says County Attorney Bill North. “We’ve tried to make this old building do things it wasn’t meant to do. A culmination of things had taken its toll.

“It’s a wonderful old building. We just need to make it usable for the 21st century.”

Money for the project was provided by a new 1 percent sales tax in the county, grant funds, private donations and a U.S. Department of Agriculture loan.

Full of history

Childs is creeping her way through the basement of the courthouse, where few visitors go. She points to a set of stairs that used to lead to the first floor. At some point, they were too contorted to use anymore; they were blocked off and another flight of stairs constructed.

“Can you imagine how many feet have gone up these stairs to wear them like that?” she asks.

The building is full of similar history.

Take, for instance, the jail on the third floor. The old metal cells haven’t been altered since the new jail was built in 1974, and it will remain untouched as a museum piece after the renovations.

Many prisoners’ initials are engraved in the metal, and several covered the cell with tally marks to keep track of their days there.

“The story around the coffee table,” Childs says, “is that it was quite a struggle to get a drunk up these stairs and into the jail.”

Well-maintained

The building has undergone many mini-renovation projects over the years. The unique roof especially has been troublesome, and birds have roosted in the third floor several times. A judge once ruled that having birds flitting through was not “proper courtroom decorum.”

The current renovations have been discussed since the mid-1990s.

The exterior work already has been done. The retaining wall in front of the building has been refinished, but the outside the courthouse – made from limestone quarried a few blocks away – remains light-colored through the years, unlike some other limestone from other parts of the state.

“They’ve actually maintained their courthouse well over time,” says Vance Kelley, a principal at Treanor Architects in Topeka, the architectural firm on the job. “You can walk in the building and it’s pretty much like it was in 1873.”

The challenge, he says, is keeping it both a historic artifact and a modern, functioning courthouse.

“It’s one of the iconic buildings for the state of Kansas,” Kelley says. “There are drawings, paintings and photography of this building all over the United States. When people travel here, it’s so unique to find it in this condition, on a downtown square where it sits. It’s so picturesque.”

Community pride

Last Saturday, when the county held a final open house at the courthouse before the renovations began, County Clerk June Morgan walked around the empty building, giving tours to anyone who dropped by.

She likes the new carpet, which will be green with pink flowers. She admits it’s been a hot topic in town – and not many people care for it.

Still, she’s excited about the renovations.

“It’s beautiful,” she says of the building. “I’m very proud to work in here every day. I’ve lived in Chase County all my life. It’s awesome to come in here every day.”

Then, a visitor walks through the door.

It’s a middle-aged man and two younger men, who say they’re from the Czech Republic, driving through Kansas to learn about the Heartland.

Morgan offers to give them a tour.

The older man is in awe.

“I was so surprised to see this here,” he tells Morgan. “This is a jewel.”