The heat
stays on low and the soda machine is still running in the old Jackson
County Courthouse.
Offices that once housed the sheriff’s department now stand empty
save for a few forgotten pieces of furniture, and upstairs rooms where
county employees worked now serve as closets replete with dusty theater
props.
The stairway wall has a crack running vertically from floor to ceiling
and water damage also has taken its toll. Two jail cells located under
the Department of Motor Vehicles office are cluttered with cobwebs
and the remnants of a moonshine still.
One would think the historic courthouse had been abandoned, left to
rot for decades, a monolithic carrion of classical revival architecture.
The reality is anything but. Sheriff Jimmy Ashe moved out less than
four months ago. The DMV office is still occupied. The theater props
on the second floor belong to the Kudzu Players who stage occasional
productions in the old courtroom.
But efforts to renovate the building and perhaps turn it into a historical
museum may have gotten a boost last week WCU Chancellor John Bardo
proposed a partership between the university and courthouse advoacates.
Efforts already have been made to restore and repair the county landmark,
with extensive work being done in 1995 and an additional $15,000 earmarked
last year to make temporary repairs to the cupola. All in all the
work has been like applying a Band-Aid to a severed limb. Courthouse
advocates say a complete restoration is needed to bring the building
back to its former glory.
A quick history lesson
The courthouse currently known as the Jackson County Courthouse actually
was not the first building to be used as such.
Prior to Sylva being named as the county seat, a small brick courthouse
built on the banks of the Tuckasegee held the title and Judge John
W. Ellis presided over the first court session. Ellis later went on
to become governor.
Sylva was named as county seat in 1913 and the hilltop courthouse
built the following year. Exactly 107 steps led to the courthouse
entrance, giving way to the legend that N.C. 107 actually starts at
the stairway’s street level end. The courtroom, located on the
second floor, featured a small jury box to the right, large columns
sectioning off the audience seating and a segregated balcony for blacks.
Years later, as the courthouse began to age and the county began to
grow, commissioners investigated building a new one. Two years after
the 1994 completion of the new justice building, county entered into
an agreement with the Kudzu Players community theater group to lease
the old courtroom for theater productions.
The lease was for 10 years, locking the county into providing a space
for the theater company. The Players, a grassroots theater company
that originally operated out of the old Sylva High School, took over
the second floor of the courthouse, turning office space into dressing
rooms, painting the courtroom black and hanging ceiling to floor black
curtains to block the light from the large windows and doors leading
to the outdoor balcony.
The Players’ popularity suffered after losing their high school
home, largely due to the unpredictability of even having a place to
perform. Securing a more permanent facility in the courthouse gave
the group the rejuvenating boost it needed. But the troupe still suffered
from lack of interest and volunteers. At times the group almost ceased
to exist, relying on its children’s theatre as its most vital
component.
Following in the footsteps
Hoping to capitalize on the beauty, history and vacancy of the old
courthouse, the courthouse committee is moving in the direction
of establishing a museum similar to that found in Lexington’s
courthouse.
Davidson County built a courthouse in 1958, leaving its circa 1800
courthouse nearly vacant for almost 15 years. In 1976, the county
renovated the old courthouse as a bicentennial project.
The county brought in an architect who specializes in historical
preservation to research original paint colors and architectural
styles, purchased display cases from a jewelry store in Winston-Salem
that was going out of business and relied on the community to bring
in artifacts to exhibit, said museum worker and registrar Pam Daniel.
As part of the project, the courtroom was restored to its 1918 condition.
While historically accurate, the restoration resulted in a rather
odd color scheme, as the courtroom walls were discovered to have
been peach colored, with cream trim and brilliant apple green on
the baseboards and doors.
“It has been a very slow process to renovate appropriately,”
Daniel said.
Modern amenities, such as an elevator to allow for handicap access,
had to be installed.
Architect and Historic Preservationalist Jerry Traub, who worked
on the Lexington project, said that while the Jackson courthouse
bears similarity to the Lexington courthouse — both in use
and style as each has a second story courtroom and features classical
revival architecture — there was no way he could provide an
estimate as to the potential cost of restoration.
“There’s no possible way I can guess how much it would
cost,” Traub said.
A lucrative proposal
Money does indeed matter, and that’s where Bardo might be able
to help.
Bardo appeared before the courthouse committee last week with a
proposal to join forces to create a museum inside the courthouse,
secure funding for the project and ultimately provide a home for
the Kudzu Players on Western’s campus.
“We really see that courthouse as an asset,” Bardo said.
In an effort to improve community relations and bring a part of
Western to downtown Sylva, Bardo suggested a partnership between
the courthouse museum and the Mountain Heritage Center located in
the university’s H.F. Robinson Administration Building.
The center has long been a source of information about Appalachian
culture. It shows features, exhibits on ironwork, covered wagons,
looms, clothing, photos and more. The center has amassed such a
large collection that it is unable to display all its materials
at once and rotation is slow to come around.
The center’s director, Tyler Blethen, recently resigned and
his replacement would be hired with the intent of participating
and providing expertise to both the Heritage Center and the courthouse
museum, Bardo said.
University grant writers also were offered to provide assistance
attaining funds for the project.
But should the museum project come to fruition, the Kudzu Players
would again be without a home. The county would be held to the conditions
of the group’s 10-year lease, which states that a performance
venue will be provided, courthouse museum or not.
In exchange for the opportunity to have a hand in downtown Sylva,
Bardo offered use of Western’s Niggli and Hoey theaters or
possibly the 1,000 seat theater in the newly constructed performing
arts center, which has yet to even open. The partnership would strengthen
university and community ties, Bardo said.
“The reality is Jackson County has to prosper for us to prosper
for us to prosper,” he said.
Committee member Conrad Burrell agreed, saying that for a somewhat
unexplained reason, local residents tend not to feel any sense of
ownership towards Western and do not get involved with the school
even though it is a strong economic contributor.
“Our local people just don’t seem to participate the way
they should,” Burrell said.
Bardo’s proposal garnered a warm response from committee members,
even though no one from the Kudzu Players was on hand to discuss
the group’s possible relocation.
“To me it just feels like a win-win situation,” said committee
chairwoman and county commissioner Roberta Crawford.
A hearty breed
The Kudzu Players learned about the group’s proposed removal
from the courthouse and relocation to Western Carolina University
via the Sylva Herald.
The news came as a surprise considering that the Players already
were planning to move. Dillsboro is in the process of developing
a 16-acre tract of land into a three part public facility that will
include a theater, a parking area and a heritage museum.
The project, which falls under the small town enhancement program
strategy (S.T.E.P.S.) created with assistance from Duke Power, is
still in its basic design phase, said Town Manager Herb Nolan.
It is expected that the theater will seat approximately 140 patrons.
An outdoor amphitheater will be available on weekends for other
local groups. Somewhat ironically, Western has offered to assist
in the theater’s design, according to a statement released
by the Kudzu Players.
The town has already received $20,000 in funding for the project,
$10,000 from Advantage West, $7,000 from Jackson County and $3,000
from the Jackson County Economic Development Commission.
At the courthouse committee meeting Jan. 6, committee members discussed
the possibility that the project might be scrapped due to a lack
of funding; however, the Players met with Dillsboro officials two
days later and as far as they knew everything was moving along as
planned.
The Players called a board meeting Sunday evening to discuss Western’s
proposal.
“Unfortunately, Kudzu Players have not been involved nor their
input requested with regard to finding a new home for community
theater,” the Players wrote in a statement. “Although
the new facilities at Western will be magnificent and state of the
art, coordination of scheduling needs of the university and the
community theater for the performance space and lack of adequate
storage space makes this arrangement far from ideal for Kudzu’s
needs.”
The Dillsboro theater project is not expected to reach completion
for at least two years, a period during which the Players say that
they hope to continue using the courthouse as a production venue.
Currently, the Players are working on three plays for the upcoming
spring season, said board member Clifford Faull.
“We would hope that during the planning phase, the funding
phase, and even the early construction phase of the rehabilitation
process, the Kudzu Players could continue to occupy the facility,”
read the Players’ statement. “We pledge to work with the
county commissioners to achieve their goal of preservation of the
old courthouse. We ask to be kept informed in this matter.”
Forging ahead
The Courthouse Committee plans to meet at the courthouse Jan. 19
at 3:30 p.m. to tour the facility before meeting again to continue
discussions Feb. 6 at 6:30 p.m.
Committee members are in the process of collecting photos and artifacts
that might shed light on the courthouse’s past. Photos of the
courtroom are particularly needed.
“We’ve got work to do,” said committee member Marion
Jones.
