After more than a year, renovations to the exterior of the Anson County Courthouse are nearing completion.
On July 24, flowers and other plants were placed at the new base of the Confederate Soldier statue in front of the courthouse. Aimee Rankin, horticulture extension agent with the Anson County Cooperative Extension Service, selected the plants that would look best around the square-shaped perimeter of the statue. The base was formerly circular. The new square base also accommodates a time capsule that was placed at the base of the statue in 1949, but had been hidden underneath vegetation for a number of years, until construction crews uncovered it in June.
The following day, July 25, a crew with Progress Energy was on-site to install new street lamps around the courthouse grounds. The lights are automatic that will come on in the evening and extinguish in the morning, said Jeff Waisner, county director of parks and recreation and facilities maintenance. Dual lights have been placed at four corners of the front courtyard, with single lights along the perimeter on each side of the courthouse, one in the parking lot and one next to the county jail.
“By the end of next week, they should all be up and in operation,” Waisner said Wednesday. Renovations to the interior of the 100-year-old courthouse started in mid-July, and Waisner said he hopes to have those finished by the end of this budget year.
The entire renovation project has been funded by the county and has consistently come under its $1 million budget.
Workers also started renovating the front facade of the Belk building, across the street from the courthouse, last week. The gray panels that were added to the building in 1954 have been removed, and will be replaced by the original brick work, which also includes several large windows that were not visible after the panels were put up.
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