Courthouse renovation receives third design award

By B. KAY RICHTER

NEA Assistant Editor

Revival Architecture announced that the Mississippi County Courthouse Renovation and Addition project has been honored by the National Center for State Courts as one of a handful of outstanding projects nationwide for the NCSC Court Space Redesign Challenge.

This is the third award to date as the project has already received an Alumni Award from the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design for Preservation Design and Adaptive Reuse. In January of this year, the building also boasted the designation of Outstanding New Construction in a Historic Setting Award from Preserve Arkansas.

Lead architect Aaron Ruby from Revival Architecture credited the people of Mississippi County along with the elected officials and staff members who he said "endured a courthouse that was previously in dire condition and inadequate for the court system."

However, Ruby also recognized Mississippi County Judge John Alan Nelson who ran for office while promising to keep the old courthouse and restore the building.

"The issue of keeping and maintaining the old courthouse, versus starting over, was long discussed but Judge Nelson never wavered, due in no small part to the fact that a WWII Medal of Honor recipi-ent, from Blytheville, was buried on the grounds," Ruby said during a phone inter-view on Thursday.

An exhibit inside the renovated court-house displays the Medal of Honor received, as well as the Purple Heart belonging to Edgar H. Lloyd.

The project began in 2022 and recently finished in August, although Ruby noted, it was still not 100% complete.

The courthouse, built in 1922, now has an improved and safer means of separating traffic, specifically detainees and family members of victims. New lighting systems also provide more efficient use of energy for taxpayers.

"We believe the historic courtroom, 50'x50'x25' is the largest and grandest in the State of Arkansas," Ruby said.

According to Ruby, county courthouses across Arkansas were added to the most Endangered Places List by Preserve Arkansas.

"Some counties have chosen to abandon their courthouses altogether, building cheap replacements. Many others still are partially abandoned while counties are unable to keep up with the maintenance they require," Ruby said.