The Historic Courthouse has a long history in the Town of Buena Vista. The original windows remain intact but are in poor condition and require restoration. The third State Historical Fund Grant provided funds for the comprehensive construction documents for all the window and door restoration plus the physical work to complete 6 of the windows and the front door.

First Floor - South Elevation. We chose these four windows, as their restoration will impact our visitors (the most visible). These windows were in fair to poor condition. The meeting rails no longer meet and seal, allowing moisture into the building. The upper and lower sashes have also deteriorated. The joints are loose and minor rot is visible at the joints, especially at the bottom rail. There is significant rot at the meeting rail with open joints and deterioration of the meeting rail to a point where it has slipped, opening the joints between the upper sash stiles and meeting rail, allowing glazing to become loose. The glazing is intact, but the glazing is loose in the upper sash and could continue to deteriorate until it falls out of the sash. The glazing putty throughout the window is in poor condition and partially missing. The exterior of the window is in poor condition and heavily weathered. The bottom rail has significant deterioration of the paint, with peeling, chipping, and alligatoring paint. The window stool has peeling paint and minor paint alligatoring and splits in the wood from heat buildup and the age of the wood and finishes. The hardware on the window is in fair/poor condition. The sash lifts & ropes are painted, making the window non-operational.

Second Floor: North Elevation. We chose this window because it is in poor to critical condition. There is visible damage to the bottom rails of both sashes, and the glazing putty on these sashes is mostly missing. There is a gap between the bottom sash and the sash stop, and the sash is very loose in the opening. The bottom rail of the top sash is also in critical condition as it appears that the bottom rail has slipped down, allowing the glazing to become loose in the opening. The bottom rails of both sashes are deteriorated with open joints and dry, brittle wood and peeling paint on the exterior. The interior finish no longer exists, and bare wood is visible where moisture damage has occurred. The sash stops on the interior and exterior are damaged and split. The hardware on the window is in fair to poor condition. The sash lift and ropes are painted, making the window non-operational.

Entry Door: The door is in fair condition. There is paint chipping from the surface, exposing bare wood. The wood bead at the glazing is in varying degrees of deterioration, but most are in fair condition. The lower left pane of glass in the north leaf has lost a portion of the wood bead, and the glazing is now held in by caulk. One pane in the transom glass is cracked and has a hole in it. Hardware: The hardware appears to be in good condition and operates as intended. The historic hardware that is installed on the inactive leaf is a bit stiff from no use. The trim is in fair condition with some open joints in the panels near the base of the door, and the opening between the wood paneling and masonry opening allows water and moisture to enter the wall cavity. Markings on the masonry jamb indicate that there was a trim piece at one time.

90% of the work is complete, with the balance to be finished before fall 2021.