Saturday, September 19, 2009
A grand groundbreaking
Officials from Montgomery County and local towns celebrate the building of a new courthouse.
JUSTIN COOK The Roanoke Times
Officials address the crowd during the groundbreaking at Montgomery County's new courthouse in Christiansburg.
JUSTIN COOK The Roanoke Times
Montgomery County Sheriff Tommy Whitt and county Administrator Craig Meadows have a laugh during the groundbreaking of the new courthouse in Christiansburg.
Setup for the new courthouse
- The clerk of courts and records will be located on the ground floor
- The commonwealth attorney and juvenile and domestic relations court and clerk will be on the second floor
- General district court and clerk will be on the third floor
- Circuit court will be on the fourth floor.
Source: Montgomery County
County courthouse history
- 1777 — First court held at James McGavock’s house at Fort Chiswell.
- 1779 — Courthouse completed on McGavock’s property.
- 1790 — Court held at James Craig’s Hans Meadow house.
- 1790s — Property at present day 13-19 West Main Street used as courthouse.
- 1796 — Log courthouse faced west in Christiansburg in center of the square. 1
- 808 — Brick courthouse replaced log building.
- 1836 — Move into courthouse on southeast corner of the square facing the highway (north).
- 1909 — New courthouse facing north completed on same site.
- 1979 — Current courthouse facing west completed.
- 2009 — Groundbreaking for new courthouse facing north at East Main and Pepper Streets.
Source: Compiled by H. F. Jablonski with the aid of “Virginia’s Montgomery County,” Mary Elizabeth Lindon, editor, and “Christiansburg, Virginia, Small Town America At Its Finest,” by Roy Wyete Kanode, second edition.
| Sharla Bardin
sharla.bardin@roanoke.com, 381-1669
CHRISTIANSBURG -- Bright-orange hard hats, gold shovels and big smiles were on display at Friday's groundbreaking ceremony for the new Montgomery County courthouse.
Officials from the county, Blacksburg and Christiansburg gathered on a cool overcast day to celebrate the start of the two-year construction project.
"This is a wonderful day for us and all the citizens of Montgomery County," said Annette Perkins, chairwoman of the county's board of supervisors.
Speakers at the ceremony congratulated all the players who have helped make the project possible, including staff and officials from the county and courthouse. They also talked about how the new courthouse will help meet the government service needs for a growing population in the region.
Some officials then donned the orange hats and grabbed the gold shovels to commemorate the start of construction.
Plans call for the 102,500-square-foot facility to be built on Pepper Street in Christiansburg, adjacent to the existing courthouse. The estimated completion date is October 2011.
The county's supervisors approved a $19 million construction contract in August with DeVere Construction Co. of Alpena, Mich. The total project is expected to cost $30 million.
The new courthouse will involve a four-story building and two-story, 137-space parking structure. The new courthouse is designed to meet the county's needs during the next 25 years and will be a nine-courtroom facility with extensive security features, including secure transfer of inmates from jail to courtrooms.
Also, sustainable and green design features will be included in the project, including a roof garden.
The existing courthouse, designed in 1975, will be renovated into a public safety building.
Christiansburg Mayor Richard Ballengee said with the new courthouse the town "will become the envy of every county seat in Virginia."
Circuit Court Judge Ray Grubbs also spoke at the ceremony and said he noticed many smiles on the faces in the audience and "mine is the widest of all."
Grubbs said he appreciated all the efforts and planning that were involved in the new courthouse and thanked county officials for recognizing the need for the building.
The new facility, he said, will be "providing for and meeting our citizens' needs for years to come."
