Maverick County nods to the past, with respect

November 18, 2006
By Bill Sontag
Feature Writer

The 1885 Maverick County Courthouse on Main Street in Eagle Pass has been the continuously operating seat of government there for 121 years, except for a three year hiatus during its restoration. The building was restored at a cost of $3.2 million and continues to function, now much more comfortably for the 365th District Court of Judge Amado Abascal. LIVE! photo/Bill Sontag (click image to enlarge)

John Sullivan, administrative assistant to Maverick County Judge Jose “Pepe” Aranda, doesn’t even try to conceal his pride in the successful years of effort to save the region’s most historic architecture from demolition.

Time was, the Maverick County Commissioners Court concluded that the county’s 1885 courthouse was so decrepit that it could not, should not be saved from the wrecking ball. The same dilemma has been faced by many of Texas’ 254 counties in a state that is simply famous for the ornate 19th century use of brick and native stone to build courthouses, and the heroic 20th and 21st century decisions to preserve these monuments to tradition.

I recall the fire in the eye of former Val Verde County Judge Ray Kirkpatrick who said, in 1998, that many of his fellow commissioners wanted to tear down the Val Verde County Courthouse, on Pecan Street in Del Rio’s historic downtown, when a roof collapse promised high-dollar fixes.

“‘Over my dead body,’ I told them,” thundered Kirkpatrick. And the historic limestone courthouse stands today, at great expense mitigated in part by state grants, but a worthwhile investment in the preservation of local heritage.

Sullivan and Aranda relish the same quality of satisfaction for their roles in completing the preservation of this singularly attractive, historic and functional landmark on Main Street in Eagle Pass. Though most county officials have moved into the new Quarry Street Annex, immediately behind the Maverick County Courthouse, the now-restored building is still in vigorous use for the court of Texas’ 365th District Court Judge Amado Abascal.

Maverick County invested $680,000 in the restoration project, begun in 2002 with extensive repairs to the aging and deteriorated roof, where most such projects begin, if only to provide protection for everything that happens afterwards. But the county portion was only a match to the grants needed to complete the entire $3.2 million renovation, funded by the Texas Historical Commission.

Maverick County’s original vault served as storage, but was mostly neglected, and the ornamental Diebold door was painted over with years of black paint and lacquer. Restorers were able to reveal and preserve the original décor, renovating the heavy iron and steel door and adjacent decorative columns to their original splendor. LIVE! photo/Bill Sontag (click image to enlarge)

Sullivan explained that, after many unexpected roadblocks, the restoration project was competed in 2005, celebrated in an Oct. 13 dedication ceremony that fall. In a building that’s seen 121 years of service, interrupted only by three years of restoration, one tough decision faces historical architects: To which period of history will we restore this grand old lady?

The question is designed to avoid a hodgepodge of architectural styles, décor motifs, and choice of materials. Historical architects settled on 1926, the year southwestern stucco was applied to stabilize old, soft brick walls. It also happened to be when the U.S. population was 115 million, a tad more than a third of today’s, the year when Duke Ellington’s records were first heard by American audiences, and when Kodak produced the first 16mm movie film.

San Antonio architects Ford, Powell & Carson Architects and Planners, Inc., already renowned with a distinguished portfolio of historic restoration in Austin, San Antonio, Laredo and Galveston, researched and designed the work for Phoenix I Contractors in Dallas to execute.

The work included meticulous repetition of faux quartersawn oak grain over original longleaf pine tongue-and-groove paneling, color matching for reproduced Williamsburg blue and grey, stenciled wallpaper in the main courtroom, and carefully revealing early 19th century painting below years of black paint on a Diebold safe and steel windows in the courthouse vault.

All exterior windows were removed and sent away to repair sills, sashes and weights to restore them to original functionality. A standing seam metal roof was installed and painted. The paint failed, and Sullivan said that Sherwin Williams Company is coming to Eagle Pass to rectify the situation.

The building now has a state-of-the-art fire and security alarm system, augmented by a sprinkler system throughout. The building sacrificed a few small, strategic locations so that the entire building to which the public has access is now ADA compliant with restrooms and an elevator.

The Maverick County Courthouse, originally designed by prolific Eagle Pass architect William Hausser at a cost of $20,489, is a source of community pride, matched, perhaps, only by the satisfaction of Sullivan and Aranda who cherish opportunities to show it off to curious visitors.

For more information on this and other Texas county courthouses, see http://www.texasescapes.com/Texas_architecture/TexasCourthouses