GASTON COUNTY'S  NEW COURTHOUSE

Gaston County dedicated its new $25 million courthouse at 325 N. Marietta Street in a day of festivities on

Saturday, June 20, 1998.

Gaston County Courthouse: From the Old to the New

With the words "Oh yes, Oh yes, this honorable court for the county of Gaston now adjourned. Sine Die. God save this state and this honorable court." on Wednesday, June 10, 1998, Bailiff Joe Clemmer ended the 87 year rein of the Gaston County Courthouse at 151 South Street, Gastonia. This facility, through its history, has serviced the needs of the citizens of Gaston County and has been a center for citizen service.

After several years of heated debate and hotly contested elections, a referendum in 1906 on a new county seat settled the issue and moved the county seat from the Town of Dallas to the City of Gastonia. Shortly thereafter, in June 1909, the Board of Commissioners contracted with a Washington, DC architectural firm, Milburn and Heister, to begin design work on a new courthouse and jail. Construction contracts were let to a firm from Columbia, S. C., in November of the same year, to build the facility at a cost of $51,747.00. After several years of construction, the new Gaston County Courthouse open, and the Board of Commissioners held its first meeting in the new facility on January 2, 1911.

The new facility, with its buff-colored brick exterior and ornate columns, was the envy of many and was said to be one of the loveliest courthouses in the South. Through the years, the building has seen numerous renovations and additions, brought on by growth in the court system and the County services required by the public. In 1941, a bond issue was passed in the amount of $100,000 for additional office space, but the addition was never constructed due to a material shortage caused by World War II, with the construction contracts being canceled in 1946. The year 1954 saw the Board of Commissioners again discussing the need for renovation and additions. Although, the Board explored the feasibility of replacement of the facility, it was determined that an addition to the existing facility would meet the needs of the public. The 1954 major renovation of the facility remains evident in today's structure.

Additions to the existing facility were again conducted in 1961 and 1966. This facility housed the courts and related functions, the County offices, the jail and other agencies. As time passed through the decade of the 60's and 70's, extensive growth in the Court system and Court-related activities placed a tremendous strain on the facility. By the mid 1970's, with the space requirements by the Courts, the County and the State continually expanding, the Board of Commissioners were again faced with the dilemma of the existing courthouse and jail facility not being adequate to meet the needs of the public.

In 1976, the Board of Commissioners employed the firm of Henningson, Durham and Richardson, Charlotte, to study the existing facility in light of the existing space usage, parking needs, building code deficiencies and then to project the needs through the year 2000. The study showed that the 1976 space requirements were more than currently existing in the facility. Further, the study found that the building was deficient in a number of the code issues and those would have to be addressed in any renovation or addition, with the main problem being the inadequacy of the circulation of people which was brought on by the numerous renovations to the structure. The study further concluded that the renovations and building additions would cost over one-half the cost of a new facility and in a number of cases would not solve the existing problems of needs.

To relieve some of the space needs of the facility, the County purchased the old Independence Bank Building on Main Street, Gastonia, renovated it and moved the County Office functions out of the Courthouse. In 1981, the Board of Commissioners continued to study the question of the replacement of the Courthouse and Jail. In 1988, a referendum for construction of a new courthouse and jail facility fail. The question was again put before the voters in 1992, with a referendum passing for the construction of a new facility.

The year 1996 saw the beginning of the construction phase of the new courthouse located at the corner of North Marietta Street and Long Avenue, two blocks north of existing courthouse. As a companion project, the Gaston County Jail will be replace with a new facility currently under construction, scheduled to open in 1999. Opening its doors to the public on Monday, June 15, 1998, the Gaston County Courthouse and with its companion facility, the Gaston County Jail, these facilities will usher in a new era of citizen service into the next century.