MONUMENT PLANNED FOR OLD COURTHOUSE AT CHARLESTON

CHARLESTON -- A monument incorporating pieces of the old courthouse will be erected on the northeast corner of the courthouse.

Mississippi County commissioners reviewed Bill Green's proposal for the monument during a meeting last week.

Green's architectural firm designed the present courthouse.

The plan as submitted calls for the four columns to be arranged at the corners of a 14-foot pad enclosing a concrete table and two benches.

The benches themselves would be sandstone slabs that previously capped the walls bordering the main staircase at the old courthouse. They would sit on top of a pair of column bases.

"Heavy timber" would be arranged in a grid and supported by the columns overhead.

Commissioners all agreed on the following changes to the plan as submitted: -- the monument pad would be concrete to match walkways; -- the table would be omitted; -- the dimensions would be scaled down from 13 feet 8 inches to 12 by 12-feet; -- a single concrete path leading up to the monument would be included instead of two path entrances across from each other; -- a third bench would be added if another slab is available.

It was agreed the table should be deleted from the plan as it seemed to clutter the monument and was too far from the benches for practical use.

The location just northeast of the war veterans memorial was chosen as the best site among those proposed in the plan.

The plan recommended 4 by 6 and 4 by 10 cypress treated-wood timbers for the structure's open-air ceiling.

Charles Walker, who built the courthouse, agreed in previous meetings to also erect the monument.