Historic pieces from Nez Perce County Courthouse will live on in new building

Construction is ongoing to build a new Nez Perce County Courthouse, and once it’s completed, the old structure will be demolished.

But not everything inside will be lost to history.

The structure of the Nez Perce County Courthouse was built in 1889 along 13th and Main streets at a cost of $40,000, with the work being done by W.B. Cooper. In 1890, a contract for a vault on the side of the courthouse was given to George D. Barnard & Co. for $1,931. Another addition was made to the front of the courthouse in 1928 for a cost of about $80,000, where much of the interior of the courthouse comes from. The courthouse was added onto again in 1973 on the west end of the building at a cost of $592,438, according to the Nez Perce County Historical Society.

While the 135-year-old building will be torn down, several items of historical value will find a home once the new building, located just west of the current structure, is finished. Some of the items saved will be refurbished and reused and others will be on display.

In courtroom 1, the judge’s bench and the railing, known as “the bar” that separates the public area from the court officials, will be moved to the new courthouse. Those items will also be refurbished before they are placed in the new courthouse, said Nez Perce County Commissioner Doug Havens.

Those items date back to the first courthouse structure that was built in 1889, but they could be older. It’s possible they were part of the Luna House, the first building that was used as a courthouse, according to Nez Perce County Clerk and Auditor Patty Weeks.

The bar also had a engraving on it, ISC, which stands for Idaho Supreme Court.

“So I think this goes back to the territorial days when we were the capital of Idaho and we had the supreme court at the capital. That makes the most sense,” Weeks said.

A couple of the metal safe doors made of solid steel “from the wild west days” have historic value and will be kept, Havens said. Those metal doors are also around 135 years old, according to Weeks. There’s a door in the recorder’s office that was part of a vault that kept the records safe, and another in the treasurer’s office, where the money from the county was held.

“I do not know how they got that safe in here,” Weeks said, because it’s extremely heavy.

Hundreds of leather-bound books that date back decades with thousands of county records will also be kept. Weeks said the books, along with the antique shelving, will go into a temperature-controlled vault in the new courthouse. That new vault will also make it easier for the public to access the materials.

Those records are even older than the courthouse building; the earliest records are marriage licenses from 1863, as well as land records and even school records.

Currently, some of the books are being held in the basement where it’s harder to preserve and access them. For the books that are in bad shape, members of the public can have them scanned to see that information. With records like these, Weeks said the No. 1 priority is to preserve them, the second is to provide access.

“It does no good to preserve it if there can be no access,” Weeks said.

Another item that will be rehomed stands outside the courthouse, recognizable to those who drive by on Main Street. The sculpture titled “Indian Summer” will be placed on a podium in the entryway of the new courthouse.

“It’s going to come down and get all washed and cleaned up,” Havens said.

The statue was created by Don D. Joslyn and depicts a Nez Perce Native American on an appaloosa horse. The original statue was made with concrete in 1974 but was blown up by vandals in 1983 and replaced with a bronze statue in 1996, according to Weeks and the Lewiston Tribune.

For other historical items, Havens said that different departments can keep whatever they want as long as it doesn’t require a redesign of a room in the new building or is part of the old courthouse structure. Weeks said that anything historic that is furniture will be kept, including tables and bookcases that used to be in the law library. Some departments are taking furniture that is 100 years old.

“We have no problem keeping as much of the artifacts as we can,” Havens said.

Other historic items are already on loan to the Nez Perce County Historical Society, like some chairs that are being displayed in the First Capitol building at the Nez Perce County Historical Society Museum, Weeks said.

Even though the structure itself won’t be able to be preserved, Weeks said that someone from the state came through the facility and took video of the inside of the courthouse.

The construction project is on track for completion in May 2025. The final steel beam for the main structure of the new courthouse will be placed Jan. 24. Some elected officials will be signing the beam after a county commissioners’ meeting at 9 a.m. at the Brammer Building. The public is invited to attend the event, but because of the ongoing construction, those who attend might have to watch from outside the construction zone, said Havens.

“Everything’s going according to plan, knock on wood,” Havens said.

Once the new courthouse is completed, there will be a brief moment where Nez Perce County will have two courthouses. The old and new structure will stand side by side because demolition of the old structure won’t be able to take place until it’s vacated, and that can’t happen until the new building is complete.

Right now, the main issue with the construction project is parking for people going in and out of the courthouse building. However, the south portion of the parking lot is expected to be graveled by the end of the month and it will be opened for parking, Havens said.

“The parking thing is a big deal,” Havens said. “It’s not good for people to have to walk so far.”

If people need assistance to access the courthouse, they can call the auditor’s office and accommodations can be made, like providing wheelchairs.

The cost of the construction is also not providing any surprises so far. The project has a price tag of $50.6 million.

“Everything’s pretty much on track,” Havens said about the cost of the project.

All the departments are now working on getting the interior furniture, like desks, set up at the end of the month.

Once the courthouse is complete, it might cause some shifting around where certain offices are located. One of those has come from a change mandated by the Idaho Legislature to fund an office of public defense. While Havens said the original design had room for public defenders at the courthouse, the Brammer Building will also be available. The commissioners are moving out of the Brammer Building and into the new facility, creating space for eight to 10 offices.

“It seemed like a pretty good fit to move public defense in here (the Brammer Building),” Havens said.

The auto license and driver’s license offices will be combined into a separate building in front of Lewiston City Hall. Construction on that building is expected to begin in the summer. That will also free up space at the current auto license office in case the city and county decide to do a joint dispatch service.

Then the building where the Nez Perce County Prosecutor’s Office is currently located at 1113 F St. will be torn down once the courthouse is complete.

With all the construction and moving around, there will be enough space for all the offices, departments and services provided by the county.

“We’re going to fill buildings we have that are vacant or they’ll be torn down,” Havens said. “The county has been fortunate to come up with all these options with the facilities we have.”

Brewster may be contacted at kbrewster@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2297.

More in Sunday A.M.

Photos of construction on the new courthouse can be found in today’s D Section.