County of courthouse: Cass County
Location of courthouse: Springfield St. & Main St., Virginia
Built: 1872
Architect/Contractor: Kemper & Butler Sandmyer & Co.
Architectural Style: Italianate Renaissance Revival
"VIRGINIA -- Cass County was created in 1837 from what had been the northern part of Morgan County.
"From the get-go, there was a battle between Virginia and Beardstown over which city would be the county seat.
"Virginia -- after some back-and-forth -- has held the title of county seat for the past 142 years, but not without some more recent pushing and shoving.
"The current two-story, red brick Cass County Courthouse was built in 1872 “on the cheap,” said David Parish, Cass County Board chairman.
"And he said there was some pressure to move the county seat back to Beardstown when it became obvious 12 years ago that the Virginia courthouse was going to need a lot of expensive restoration.
'“That wasn’t going to happen,” said Parish, who lives in Beardstown. So piece by piece, project by project, the work began.
"Most recently, a new heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system was installed.
'“That was quite involved and quite an undertaking,” Parish said.
"Also just completed, with the help of two grants from the state, was the installation of wheelchair-accessible restrooms and an elevator.
'“We’ve been wrestling with that for 12 years,” Parish said. “It’s been primarily a problem of where we put the elevator and restrooms. There’s no interior space.”
"So officials decided to just extend the north side of the building and try to match it up with what already existed.
'“It’s not perfect, but I think we did a pretty good job,” Parish said.
"Several of the courthouse offices, including those of the circuit clerk and treasurer and the county board room, have been renovated.
"Ten new “restoration windows” that were historically accurate except for being energy efficient were installed for the second-floor courtroom. Parish said the rest of the windows need to be replaced, too, but the company that made the restoration windows doesn’t have them anymore.
'“We’ve had to replace the quoin corners (masonry blocks at the corner of a wall) of the building because they were tipping out from the building,” he said. “They had to be relaid and connected to the rest of the building with stainless steel.”
"The building is going to need a new roof over the portico above the south steps, and the south deck itself will have to be rebuilt because some of the steps are crumbling, Parish said.
'“It’s a continuing process,” he said.
"Suzanne Germann of Landmarks Illinois, the not-for-profit historic preservation group, said many old courthouses are in the center of town, like Virginia’s.
'“Some communities may have another facility somewhere else,” she said. “But they’ve kept these historic buildings because they didn’t want to lose them.”
"Carol Orwig, president of the Cass County Historical and Genealogical Society, agrees that the courthouse in Virginia is a focal point of the community.
'“Oh, yes,” she said. “All the county offices are there.”' ~ The State Journal-Register, By Chris Dettro, June 6, 2014