Common Pleas Courthouse considered this week for historic register

The Common Pleas Courthouse will be considered for recommendation to the National Register of Historic Places on Friday in Jefferson City, Mo., when the Missouri Advisory Council on Historic Preservation holds its quarterly meeting.

The antebellum brick courthouse will be one of nine buildings or districts discussed during the meeting. Placement on the National Register will make the building, owned by the city and used by the county, eligible for a wider range of grants for maintenance and upgrades, 1st District Commissioner Paul Koeper said.

The building houses the home offices of both circuit judges of the 32nd Judicial Circuit, which includes Cape Girardeau, Perry and Bollinger counties, and two courtrooms as well as offices for a circuit clerk, court reporter and associate circuit judge.

There don't appear to be many downsides to the listing, Koeper said. The commission was assured that a listing does not require that the courthouse be open for tours or that any current operations cease, he said.

A listing does not preclude the county from making interior changes to the building to make it more functional, Koeper said.

"Right now I don't see a lot of disadvantages at all," Koeper said.

The courthouse is the anchor of a historic district that has already been scrutinized by the state council and recommended for listing.

The courthouse, built in the 1850s, does not meet modern codes for earthquake protection, and Koeper said he was worried when the potential listing came before the commission that the county not be prevented from demolishing the building if it were catastrophically damaged.

"We could go ahead and demolish the thing," he said. "Now, the public may come back, may want to interfere and say we want this thing saved. We would have to throw back at the public that we have to have the money."

The nomination does not include the courthouse annex, part of an old city library. Too many alterations have been made to the structure for it to be included, Koeper said.

rkeller@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

44 N. Lorimier St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.