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Logan County Courthouse renovation
update
[March 25, 2026]
At the quarterly Logan County
Courthouse update on March 23, project manager Bill Walter, Building
and Grounds Committee Chairman Lance Conahan and Building Grounds
vice chairman Hannah Fitzpatrick shared what parts of the
restoration have been recently completed.
The stained-glass in the dome has
now been put back up. Walter said Restoric had removed and stored
the stained-glass panels in crates at Logan County Airport.
Once it was time to restore the stained glass, Neal Vogel of
Restoric took the panels to a suburb of Chicago. On three occasions,
Walter had the opportunity to go to the shop where the panels were
being restored.
At the shop, an 81-year-old man and his 79-year-old wife literally
took each panel apart. Walter said the county paid for that. The
couple did it “old world style.” They did “penciling” by putting
paper over the glass and shading it so all the dimensions,
peculiarities and idiosyncrasies on the panels showed up.
By doing this before they took the
panels apart, the couple had a template to know where to put
everything back. They then replaced all the caning in addition to
the web. Finally, they repackaged each panel into the crate.
Vogel kept the panels for several months because Walter wanted Vogel
to hang on to them until completing the base of the dome. That way,
there would be no chance of collateral damage.
Walter said it took around three weeks calendar time to put the
panels back together. Vogel used scaffolding as he put the panels
back in place.
Halfway through, Walter said Vogel came to the county board with
some recommendations.
Around five years ago, Vogel’s carpentry division built a deck
platform in the attic around the dome because there was nothing to
walk on except the ceiling joists. Walter said the platform helped
with safety and accessibility.
As a result of building the platform, Walter said they increased the
height and unbeknownst to them at the time, obscured half of the
bottom perimeter of the stained glass panels. He said those panels
would look darker than the rest of the dome.
With recommendation from Vogel and Walter, the board approved LED
light panels to provide controllable light, which would simulate the
natural light.
While Vogel still had the
scaffolding in place, he presented the board with a proposal to
restore the murals underneath the dome.
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In his proposal to the board, Vogel
pointed out that over the years, people have painted several aspects
of the ring supports the wrong color. Vogel returned the murals to
the proper historic color. Walter said Vogel has great attention to
detail and preservation.
When each panel was sealed into
place, Walter said the board approved the application of clear Lexan
to each panel. The Lexan will protect the panels for the foreseeable
future.
Walter said Vogel was incredibly accommodating to the schedules of
the court and county personnel. Much of the assembly work was done
during off hours.
Update on the first-floor courtroom
Conahan said for the first-floor
courtroom they are planning to propose bench accommodation to have
space for all twelve board members and the county clerk and
recorder. This will help with live streaming and audiovisuals.
In the future, Conahan said they hope to be able to livestream
committee meetings and the board workshop. When there are large
groups of people attending meetings, they will still use the
third-floor courtroom.
As the outdoor elevator is being restored, Conahan and Walter said
they are looking into having a temporary alternate entrance on the
Kickapoo side of the courthouse. During this time, there will be a
lift for accessibility purposes.
Extensive work is being done in the
basement to bring the elevator up to code. The interior elevator
will need operational components replaced.
Walter said they appreciated everyone’s patience during the next
five to six weeks as the work is done.
The North, South and West doors will soon be replaced to match the
East entrance on the Mclean Street side of the courthouse.
By the end of the year, the intent is to have the lights done on the
dome and flooring and exterior work completed. Conahan said much of
the work can be done because of the $2.2 million rebate the county
received for using a geothermal system.
New LED lights will illuminate the clock. While the clocks are being
worked on floodlights will be added to illuminate the dome.
[Angela Reiners with additional photos by Randy Washam]
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