As Rockbridge County and Lexington officials face a September deadline to decide on a plan for a new courthouse facility, two separate proposals continue to compete for their attention.

One design, to build a large courthouse and public parking facility at Nelson and Randolph streets, is being revamped with a more traditional facade to help it blend in with Lexington's historic buildings. The city's architectural review board OK'd the revisions last week.

The board had rejected the proposal in January in part because the design was too contemporary.

But as Lexington officials appear to be moving forward with that proposal, a popular plan among residents to renovate the old courthouse and other buildings in courthouse square was submitted by local builder Peter Sils.

The county's board of supervisors acknowledged Monday night that it had received Sils' proposal. It calls for renovating the old courthouse, a bank building and another building next door to house courthouse services. It includes building a 140-space parking facility across Randolph Street that would serve the courts and downtown.

"We've looked at all of this with an eye toward seeing whether the spaces are adequate for the court's needs, and they are," Sils said.

He estimated a $20 million price tag for the project. That's about $10 million less than the Randolph Street plan's $29.75 million estimate.

South River District Supervisor Carroll Comstock expressed disappointment at the lack of specific details in Sils' proposal.

"There's a whole lot less there than I expected," he told Sils at Monday night's meeting.

For decades, the 110-year-old courthouse in downtown Lexington has lacked proper storage space, wiring and adequate separation between prisoners and court patrons.

In a 2002 referendum, residents of Lexington and Rockbridge County voted against a $13.5 million new building to house the circuit, general district, and juvenile and domestic relations courts.

But the state and Rockbridge County Circuit Court filed suit against the board of supervisors and the city council over the decrepit courthouse facilities. Court-ordered deadlines for constructing a new building soon followed.

In March, Circuit Court Judge Everett Martin gave the two localities until September to come up with a new plan or go with the contemporary-looking design.