Here's when the rehab of the historic Hillsdale County Courthouse will be complete

HILLSDALE — The Hillsdale County Board of Commissioners anticipates rehabilitation work to the exterior of the historic Hillsdale County Courthouse in downtown Hillsdale will be finished by Nov. 30.

Renaissance Historic Exteriors has been working to make repairs to the 100-year-old building since 2022 when a severe storm wreaked havoc on the clay tile roof causing leaks.

While the company was initially brought in to address the roof issue, the commissioner’s turned their attention to failing masonry with concerns of loss of life if a sandstone block were to fall off of the building onto someone.

The nearly $12 million in work done to the exterior also included window replacement and reconstructing the historic clocktower.

The work was made possible by an $8.8 million funding allocation from the American Rescue Plan Act distributed by the federal government to stimulate the economy in the wake of COVID-19 and is part of a larger effort to modernize the courthouse facilities with renovations inside already completed.

Efforts began when the commissioners purchased and renovated the former Hillsdale Daily News building on McCollum Street and moved non-court related county staff to the new Hillsdale County Offices Building.

This freed up space to begin renovations at the historic Hillsdale County Courthouse in downtown Hillsdale with plans at the time to remove a load bearing wall to make way for a third courtroom and consolidate all of the county’s courts under one roof.

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However, an architectural study conducted in the midst of renovations showed the wall could not be removed and the consolidation plan was scrapped.

The board of commissioners considered various options including an addition to the historic courthouse but ultimately decided on the eventual end of a leasing agreement for LifeWays Community Mental Health behind the Hillsdale County Sheriff’s Office. The 2B District Court will eventually move to the LifeWays Building when LifeWays constructs its new building in Hillsdale’s Industrial Drive.

Hillsdale County Commissioner Doug Ingles said the county will use money already available and not be seeking a millage to make the move happen and that the move will likely coincide with the timeline of the county’s current lease with Hillsdale Renaissance who purchased the Courthouse Annex building as part of a larger plan for business development in downtown Hillsdale.

— Contact Reporter Corey Murray at cmurray@hillsdale.net or follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @cmurrayHDN.

This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: Here's when the rehab of the historic Hillsdale County Courthouse will be complete