Dateline: June 19, 2003

Grant buys new courtyard sprinklers 

By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

The Donley County Courthouse Square will be getting a modern sprinkler system thanks to a grant from the Charles E. and Thelma A. Bairfield Foundation.

Donley County Commissioners were informed of the award during a called session Monday afternoon, and the court voted to accept a bid to install the system for $21,750 from a local contractor, Lowrie Lawn & Landscape.

“We certainly appreciate the Bairfield Foundation’s concern and interest in the courthouse project,” County Judge Jack Hall said. “We feel like the courtyard will greatly benefit from this. It was a nice gesture on their part.”

The Bairfield Foundation was set up in 1993, and Hall said it was one of the earliest supporters of the courthouse restoration.

“They gave us $2,000 back when we did our master plan, and they were really the first ones who gave us money for this project.”

Commissioners also agreed on Monday to advertise for bids for sodding the square.

Restoration work on the 1890 courthouse is expected to be mostly completed for a July 4 rededication ceremony. Some work – such as the yard work, finials on the roof, and exterior stone repairs – will be completed after the dedication.

Commissioners reviewed plans for the July 4 rededication of the courthouse and went over the program for the event.

The commissioners’ court authorized Judge Hall to purchase 10 chairs from the Furniture Factory in Claude for the district courtroom to be paid through the courthouse restoration fund. The chairs are to be stained to match other furnishings in the courtroom.

Also this week, the court agreed to split the cost of maintenance performed on the radio tower with the City of Clarendon.

In other county business, the court met in regular session June 9 and approved reserve deputy bonds for Ed Bailey and Mark C. White.

Texas Association of Counties President Bill Bailey was appointed as a voting delegate to the National Association of Counties Annual Conference.

Road reports were accepted from commissioners, and the court approved Sheriff Butch Blackburn’s attendance at the state sheriffs’ meeting in Dallas and Treasurer Becky Jackson’s attendance at a workshop in Lubbock.

Engineer Che Shadle gave a report on the bridge approaches at Troublesome and Mulberry creeks.