Upshur Co. Commissioners select construction company for courthouse renovations

GILMER, Texas (KLTV) - The Upshur County Commissioners Court has chosen J.C. Stoddard, a San Antonio-based company, to conduct the renovation and restoration of the county courthouse in downtown Gilmer.

“They have the most experience building these courthouses, “said Upshur County Precinct One Commissioner Gene Dolle. “A couple of the commissioners visited a number of their courthouses and they were excellent jobs.”

The project is estimated to take just over 600 days to complete, with county officials hopeful construction can begin mid-august. The $12.8 million is being sourced from several places, including a $5.2 million grant from the Texas Historical Society and several million dollars in American Rescue plan funds.

The objective of the project is to bring the courthouse into the 21st century while bringing back the original aesthetics of the 1937 building.

“The brick and mortar has deteriorated to the point where it’s absorbing the water and we’ve got these leaks that are damaging our records that are supposed to be held forever,” said Dolle. “We were faced with the decision of renovating a courthouse or building another one.”

Part of the renovation will be re-arranging the interior of the building to put rooms in their original space. The county courtroom will be put back in its original spot on the second floor, where the commissioner’s offices now sit.

For those who spend their days in the 86-year-old building, the construction can’t start soon enough.

“The heat’s either full on or full off so it gets very hot and they have to turn it off, or it gets very cold and they have to cut it off,” said Dolle. “So we are looking forward to having consistency in our air.”

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