Master plan meets deadline

By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

The master plan to restore the 1890 Donley County Courthouse has been accepted by the Texas Historical Commission (THC), meeting the state’s February 1 deadline.

County Judge Jack Hall said acceptance of the plan makes the county eligible to receive a portion of the $50 million set aside by the legislature last session for the purpose of preserving and restoring the state’s most historic courthouses.

The THC will decide April 7, 2000, how much money Donley County will get in the first round of grants, Hall said.

Donley’s master plan was prepared by Volz & Associates of Austin, a firm which has overseen the restoration of both the Texas Capitol building and the Gonzales County Courthouse. The Volz team started working on the local courthouse in May 1999.

Architects examined and cataloged the structural conditions of the courthouse from the roof to the foundation for the master plan.

A history of the building – from the bid process in 1890 to roofing work in 1956 – was also compiled from the minutes of the Commissioners’ Court and other historical records.

The Donley County project seeks $3 million from the state to restore the courthouse to its original condition and to make badly needed repairs and improvements.

Seventy-two other counties also reportedly submitted master plans by the February 1 deadline. Three of them are in the Panhandle – Armstrong, Gray, and Roberts.