The Potter County Court House is one of the three finalists in the restoration category for the Texas Downtown Associations’ Presidents Awards Program reported the Amarillo Globe-News.
The restoration of the 1932 structure has been a four-year process costing $18 million.
Beth Duke, executive director of Center City of Amarillo says, “It’s exciting, because it shows people all around the state we do have historical preservation and great architecture.”
Duke went on to say, “Another thing that helped make it a finalist is we showed how much the community uses it,” Duke said. “The courthouse square hosts High Noon on the Square, this summer we averaged 700 people a performance, and the government offices are used by the public. And that’s not always the case with restored courthouses.”
The county modernized the courthouse while it was restoring it by adding elements like computerized control of heating, cooling and security and wireless communications.
Previous Center City winners were the Courtyard by Marriott at the Historic Fisk Building in 2011, and the Red Lokey Oil Co. building, which now houses architect Chuck Lynch.
The downtown association will announce this year’s awards on Nov. 7.
