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Sunday, September 07, 2008

Ind. Courts - Tippecanoe's historic courthouse and its "twin" in Quincy Illinois

David Smith of the Lafayette Journal & Courier has a long feature story today on the history of the Tippecanoe County Courthouse. A quote from the final third of the story:

The Quincy design had been criticized early on by several architects who claimed that the dome could not be supported as proposed in Mc-Kean's drawings.

Officials in Adams County initially wanted to leave off the dome, not for structural reasons but to keep the cost down. They ran the plans past a bridge engineer to be sure the dome would be safe, then approved the building as originally planned. The dome held up for 68 years before a tornado knocked it off in 1945.

After the tornado exposed the courts and court records to the elements, the county supervisors decided against restoring the courthouse, instead replacing it with a no-frills brick office building.

Quincy as a whole has a tradition of historic preservation and a museum devoted to historic architecture. One person who especially regrets losing the crown jewel of the city's Victorian collection is Vicki Ebbing, museum coordinator, Gardener Museum of Architecture and Design, Quincy, Ill.

"We're quite well known for preserving our buildings. Unfortunately, the tornado came through before that process started," she said.

Duncan Campbell, director of the graduate program in historic preservation at Ball State University, said if the same thing happened today, chances are a different decision regarding the Quincy courthouse would be reached.

Today preservation advocacy groups are in place as well as laws and a growing appreciation for the importance of saving historic structures. Back in 1945, the mindset was different.

"During World War II and shortly thereafter, there was a rebuild mentality," he said. "The idea that we could do it again, and make it better, was pretty prevalent."

Posted by Marcia Oddi on September 7, 2008 10:37 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts