Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, December 27, 1994 TAG: 9412270129
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RICHARD FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
With its stone columns, wide steps and copper-roofed bell tower, the Bedford County Courthouse is an immediately recognizable landmark.
Hand-painted wooden replicas of it are sold in antiques and crafts stores as far away as Richmond. Its the most prominent feature in Bedford's cityscape.
It's also a pain in the neck if you have to work there.
Built in 1930, the courthouse is the fourth incarnation of Bedford County's court building. It has no hot water. Narrow halls. Steep steps. Toilets and plumbing that look as if they were picked up at a Civil War surplus sale.
Prisoners who come to court for the day are kept behind a locked wooden door. There's water damage everywhere - even in the Circuit Court itself - because the bricks leak.
And if you're disabled, forget about easy access. There's no elevator and the stairways are narrow. The front steps outside are hard to get up in a wheelchair. And the back steps? They're for mountain climbers.
"We've had deputies carry people up the steps," said Circuit Court Clerk Carol Black. "Or Judge Sweeney has even gone out to the cars in the parking lot if it's a brief hearing."
To bring the building into compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act and to alleviate the problems brought about by the courthouse's outdated design, the Bedford County Board of Supervisors has approved a $5.1 million renovation of the courthouse and the Burks-Scott building next door, which houses the county's Social Services Department.
The project is to begin in October and conclude in April 1997.
Though preliminary plans won't be completed until next month, county and court officials have a good idea what's needed. It will mean almost an entire revamping.
The biggest change probably will be relocating some courtrooms - and maybe adding one.
Right now, the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court and its clerk's office are in the basement. The Circuit Court clerk's office is on the first floor, along with an administrative office of the public library and the Red Cross.
The Circuit Court, General District Court, General District Court clerk's office and commonwealth attorney's office are on the second floor.
Getting from the Circuit Court clerk's office to the Circuit Court means you have to climb stairs. Getting from the General District Court clerk's office to its courtroom entails walking down a congested public hallway that runs the length of the courthouse. And, unlike the Circuit Court, which is connected to its judge's chambers, the General District Court has no private entrance for the judge, who must enter the court through the same crowded hallways.
There are two offices for the commonwealth's attorney and his assistants, separated from each other by the width of the building.
To improve efficiency, the courthouse most likely will be rearranged to have just one court and its respective clerk's office on each floor. The commonwealth attorney's offices probably will be grouped together.
Lockup facilities will have to be rebuilt. Now, prisoners on their way there are taken through the Circuit Court clerk's office.
"It's not good for the public to have the accused walking through this office," Black said. "We always know there's a time they'll try to escape."
The lockup room has plaster walls, a locked wooden door and no metal bars. A few years ago, its windows were boarded up because prisoners had jumped through them to escape. The ceiling is cork board covering an access space, and prisoners also have tried to escape through it.
The new court design should take care of those problems. It also will add rooms for lawyers to talk in private with witnesses and clients, a feature the old courthouse never has had.
"It's going to have a major impact on day-to-day operations," said Bedford County Administrator Bill Rolfe. "We'll do the [Burks-Scott] building first and some of the courts and offices may move into there on a temporary basis.
"But I wouldn't be surprised if some courts have to convene in other localities."
Some courts almost are forced to do that now. Criminal cases in the Circuit Court increased 87 percent - from 603 cases to 1,132 cases - in the past five years. Civil cases were up almost 20 percent over the same time period.
When other judges come to help, the clerk has to find space for them. Usually, space is at a premium. That's why a fourth courtroom probably will be added.
To make space in the already overtaxed Circuit Court clerk's office, the Red Cross branch and the library office most likely will be moved to the Burks-Scott Building.
Other problems to be addressed include the building's substandard heating and air conditioning. On a recent cold December day, employees in the Circuit Court clerk's office had electric fans running because the furnace was too hot.
"There needs to be consistent heat and air conditioning," Black said. "I need humidity control for the records. They're deteriorating fast."
Even though it's been less than five years since the county spent about $500,000 to replace the roof, plaster walls inside the courthouse are peeling, cracked, discolored and bubbled with water stains.
County Supervisor Henry Creasy, who owns a contracting business, inspected the roof recently to make sure that it was replaced properly.
It was, he said, but that doesn't help the bricks on the outside of the building, which were mortared years before brick buildings were chemically sealed to prevent water leaks.
That also will have to be remedied, by sealing the bricks or adding overhangs to stop water from dripping down them.
Other fixes will include adding an indoor sprinkler system to bring the courthouse up to building code standards for fire safety.
Elevators and ramps will be added and a parking deck will be built in back of the building, replacing a small parking lot that sits on a hill with a sheer drop and no guardrail. That will mean an end to the climb up the courthouse's cracked concrete steps to its rear entrance.
Those who work in the courthouse are eagerly awaiting the changes. "I don't ever want to do away with this building," Black said. "It has character. The courtroom is one of the nicest in Virginia. The space just needs to be reorganized. We need a totally new layout."
by CNB