Issue 43: 9 Years Ago: Work Begins on Court Expansion ProjectThis is a featured page


photo of courts complex
Nine years ago, work began on a major project to renovate and expand the buildings housing Loudoun County’s court system. The $30 million project began on October 19, 1998, with an archeological dig on the site of the courts project.

The project provided much needed courtroom and administrative space for the court system, which had become badly overcrowded in its old facilities.
It also addressed security issues, such as the need to move prisoners safely to court and to provide separate spaces for defendants and witnesses. The firm of R. Christopher Godwin Associates was retained by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources through a matching grant program to conduct the excavation. The fieldwork continued over several weeks, and artifacts uncovered in the dig were displayed to the public in an exhibit at the Loudoun Museum in June 2000.
The Board of Supervisors awarded a contract to Charles E. Tompkins Company for the construction and renovation project. On-site work began in 1999, and the first phase of the courts project was completed in November 2001.
Phase I of the project included the renovation of the former County Administration Building, located at 18 North King Street in Leesburg, and the construction of a new court building.
The former County Administration Building was gutted, and the walls were covered with a brick veneer to match the brickwork of the historic courthouse. The building’s exterior was appointed with decorative trim in the Chippendale style, similar to designs used in the Colonial era, such as Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello.
In the second phase of the project, by J. A. Jones and Tompkins Builders, the court buildings at 18 East Market Street – including the old Academy building – were renovated to serve as a main entrance to the new addition to the courts complex. This phase, which began in April 2002, included moving the Law Library to the old Board of Supervisors meeting room.
This is one of a series of weekly releases from the Loudoun County Office of Public Information highlighting landmark events in the Loudoun County government during its 250-year history.

Source: Courts Project Update newsletter
Leesburg Today
Loudoun Times-Mirror

Image: Photo of renovated courts buildings, March 2001 (photo by Elizabeth Wheeler)

Contact: Jim Barnes, 703-771-5086


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