Breathing Life Back Into an Old Courthouse

The next project was to start working on repairing windows. Each window was carefully removed and taken to a workshop in Fort Collins for restoration. Decades of paint were be scraped away and minor repairs made to the sashes to make them sturdy again. The original, single-sash windows used weights attached to ropes hidden inside the frames to hold the windows open. Many of the old ropes had rotted and broken over the decades and had to be replaced in order for the windows to be opened and closed freely. Many pieces of the original hardware, such as sash lifts and locks, are in good condition, and we are excited to keep using them on the restored windows. Finally, we installed storm windows, which help immensely with the preservation of the restored windows and with keeping the museum’s heating costs down. We had originally planned to restore all 40 windows at once, but with the economic strain at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Colorado State Historical Fund was unable to finance such a massive project. Instead, we chose the six windows that were in the most critical condition and were able to receive a grant to restore them, along with the front entry.

While we love the old Chaffee County Courthouse building, it takes a lot of time, money, and skilled craftsmen to ensure that it stays standing strong and beautiful for future generations. We are fortunate to have the support of the Colorado State Historic Fund as we undergo a multi-year restoration effort. Let us walk you through some of the restorations we’ve completed over the last eight years!

It all began in 2015 when Buena Vista Heritage started a campaign to refurbish The Historic Chaffee County Courthouse. After an assessment of the building to determine a list of critical problems that needed to be addressed, work began right away on the roof, gutters, and widow’s walk.

Next, we stabilized and restored the Cupola. Many people remember the shining silver dome that topped this building for years, but when we analyzed the paint, we discovered that it originally would have been a beautiful red. Since we are aiming to return this historic structure to how it looked in 1882, we decided to say goodbye to the silver.

Our southwest exhibit room, the hall, and the Judges' Chambers upstairs are up next, along with updating the electrical in several rooms.

It has become increasingly apparent that the Courthouse’s electrical system cannot sustain the needs of a 21st-century endeavor.  In order to maintain our functionality as a museum, as well as increase our ability to host events, we will be rewiring parts of the building, including the courtroom, some exhibit spaces, and the judges' chambers. We will also upgrade some of the lighting fixtures away from industrial-style fluorescent tubes. 

In our past grant construction we have restricted restoration work to the winter months so that it didn’t affect the museum in the summer; however, this year we have decided to give visitors a front-row seat to watch the progress.  If you’re lucky, you might be able to peek through the plexiglass into our exhibit room and see exactly what we’re doing.

  • Our tale starts in late 2020, when we began work on the front doors, as well as several windows, thanks to financial support from an SHF grant. Damage to the wood of the door and frame was repaired, broken panes of glass were replaced, and everything was painted. All this work was completed quickly, but our progress came to a screeching halt as we waited for the new panic hardware. We needed this to bring the front doors up to code, but it turned out that the hardware was severely back-ordered. Eventually, after a months-long delay, we were excited to get everything installed, with the expectation that our front doors would be ready for another hundred years of use.

    We were woefully mistaken.

    When we installed the new hardware at the beginning of our season in 2022, we suddenly began having problems getting the door to latch. One heavy spring rainstorm later, the wood was so swollen that nothing we could do would allow us to lock the front doors. Our contractor attempted a series of adjustments and was finally able to get the doors to latch so that we could safely lock the building. Unfortunately, the doors latched a little too well and couldn’t be released from the outside.

    It turns out that the 100-year-old pine doors and the 140-year-old building in which they reside are all completely warped. When we tried to install the new, perfectly straight panic hardware into warped doors in a warped frame in a warped building, it was doomed to fail from the beginning.  

    After a summer of entering via a side door and then unlatching the front doors from the inside, we received a micro-grant in 2022 and completed it in 2023 for brand-new doors. While we try to preserve and restore the original parts of the building as best as possible, sometimes that isn’t an option. In fact, the replaced pine doors were not original to the building in 1882. They were likely installed sometime during the Courthouse’s tenure as a school. The new doors are constructed out of sustainably sourced mahogany but utilize the existing glazing and replicate the historic doors in all details.

  • This process will take years. Once we finish the interior, we will turn our attention to the outside. The brick needs repairs (called tuckpointing), and the wrought iron fencing needs to be welded in some places and entirely replaced in others. High up, decorated by bird nests and peeling paint, is an intricate metal cornice running the entire circumference of the building. Portions are missing, but replicating them will be very expensive, and the entire thing will need to be stabilized and repainted. 

    In addition, Buena Vista Heritage is responsible for two other properties: Turner Farm & Apple Orchard and the Depot & Caboose. While we are not actively restoring these at present, we are constantly monitoring them to make sure no problems arise that could become critical.

    Many times the projected restoration work has seemed overwhelming. Thankfully, we have an amazing team in place and a wonderfully supportive community that understands our need to raise matching funds to receive State Historical Fund Grants. Each year brings us closer to the day when we can open the doors to the Historic Chaffee County Courthouse, knowing that it looks as stunning as it did on opening day in 1882.