NEW CASTLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- After years of waiting on approval and funding, a groundbreaking was held Monday for a newly renovated courthouse in Henry County.
Back in 2014, the Kentucky General Assembly approved the addition and renovation of the courthouse that sits on the square in New Castle.
"Our courthouse is the hallmark of the county," Henry County Judge Executive John Logan Brent said. "It is the architectural centerpiece of the county. People give directions by the court house. Everybody knows where the courthouse is."
And that's part of the reason Brent said it was so important to renovate and not replace the nearly 150-year old building.
"When they do these projects, they do them for 100 years," Brent said. "So when this addition is done, when this remodel is done, we expect it to last well into the 22nd century."
The funding, all from the state, totals $13 million and was approved by the state legislature in 2016. The plan calls to expand the building to 36,271 square feet and update the existing space.
"The people of Henry County are now preserving this historic structure while also making the needed improvements that will increase the efficiency while also increasing the delivery of justice to this community," Kentucky Supreme Court Chief John D. Minton Jr. said.
For now, court services are being handled out of temporary space in Eminence. Construction is expected to be completed on the renovations to the courthouse by October 2020.
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