Blasterz have been to all 254 counties in Texas -- more than once. In all of our travels, we always stop at the courthouses.
The last time we did the whole 254 County thing in the 1990s, Mama and Daddy Blaster could not agree on which courthouse was Ugliest Of All: the Nacogdoches County Early Motel-style courthouse, the Fisher County precast concrete bunker-style courthouse, or the Zavala County 1970s Medical Office/Strip-Center-style courthouse.
In the intervening years, Nacogdoches County Commissioners wised up, renovating their extremely ugly courthouse into a gorgeous Spanish mission style complex that fits with the historic character of that town.
Fischer County commissioners had a similar burst of civic pride, painting their zero-maintenance fortress, and adding nice new native-plant landscaping and spiffy memorials.
Zavala County Commissioners, on the other hand, have let their 1970s ugly courthouse moulder and rot.
So -- to the Zavala County Commissioners goes the prize for having the Undisputed Champion Ugliest Courthouse in Texas. Congrats, or something.
Here's some good news though (unless you are Scurry, Taylor, Upton or Wichita County Commissioners, whose ugly hulking boxes occupy the next tier on the Ugly List) as of 23 July 2015, two days after Blasterz came through:
From the FischerHeck Architects blog: (
visit link)
"IN PROGRESS: ZAVALA COUNTY COURTHGOUSE AND ANNEX
We are excited to announce that Fisher Heck has been selected to renovate the Zavala County Courthouse and to design a new annex courtroom building! Located about two hours southwest of San Antonio in a small town called Crystal City, Texas, this unique modern courthouse is unlike most Texas courthouses, mostly because the original courthouse in Crystal City was built in 1928, but has since been demolished. This courthouse was built in 1970, hence the modern design, which was conceived by architect Gene P. Hobart. The building received a major addition in 1984 and currently hosts the county jail.
With the main circulation path of the building dedicated to the perimeter porch, accentuated by the building's expansive cantilevering roofline, the interior of the building has, over time, developed into a layout of rooms and hallways with no real order or cohesive configuration. That's were we come in! In addition to renovating and updating the interior of their current courthouse, the County is also looking to build a new two-story annex building across the street that will contain most of the District and County functions.
These are the types of projects we love! The ones where you get to work on both historic and new buildings together, while creating that relationship between the two that will impact so many people's lives who interact with them on a daily basis. We can't wait to show you more in time!"