Donna and I drove to New Orleans on Thursday, April 5.  On the way, we stopped in Beaumont (Jefferson County) and Orange (Orange County) so I could take additional photographs for this website.  It was a beautiful spring day.  The Jefferson County courthouse in Beaumont is as impressive as ever.  I took some photographs of the 1981 addition to the historic courthouse and a few of the immediate context, including the adjacent Port of Beaumont. 

The entrance to the Port of Beaumont is across the street from the courthouse. I took this photo standing in the public right of way (i.e. the street).  As you can see, there's not much to "see" at the entrance.  Being a port, there are some ships and warehouses in the immediate area.  Nothing unusual or unexpected.

I walked inside the property to take a closer look at the propeller.  After taking a couple of photographs, I turned and started to take a photograph of the port entrance.  At that point a uniformed guard came out of the building and made it clear to me that I wasn't allowed to take photos of the port.  Security issues.  So, I made my way back to the street and the courthouse.  Lesson learned. 

I'll be updating my Jefferson County page soon.  Here's a detail from the 1932 courthouse. 

The courthouse in Orange, Texas is as far east as any in the state, with the possible exception of the courthouse in Newton. On the map, Orange appears to be just a little further east than Newton.  I'll check the coordinates later to confirm my initial opinion.  Anyway, Orange has a number of significant buildings in its downtown area, but the courthouse isn't one of them.  In fact, the courthouse is located a few blocks south of the downtown.  I don't know why it was built all by itself.  Here's the view from the courthouse steps, looking north.  Not much, eh?

The courthouse dates from 1935-36 and was a WPA project.  In 1964 a pair of modern wings were added on the east and west.  Otherwise, the building appears to be pretty much original. 

Orange is home to the very impressive Stark Museum of Art.  More on this and other updates to the Orange County page will follow later this week.

Regular readers of this Blog will recall the ongoing story of the repairs to the exterior cladding of the Nolan County courthouse in Sweetwater.  The repairs are necessary because the granite panels on the building began to fall off last year!  The Sweetwater Reporter posted an article on the project on March 23, 2012.
"Rodney Harvey with Curtainwall Design Consulting led the powerpoint presentation and discussion regarding the state of the courthouse and the options available for repair during the special County Commissioners' meeting on Friday morning, March 16, 2012, in which several steps were taken toward the progress of the Nolan County Courthouse renovations as well as the construction of the new jail and sheriff's offices for the county."
According to the paper, the problems are the result of alleged construction defectives dating from 1976, when the courthouse was built.
"At this time, two proposed remediation options were presented. As the courthouse is not to be completely reconstructed but only repaired, the work done will meet the building codes from the original construction date of 1976."
Hopefully, the new "repairs" will be constructed according to the architect's and engineer's construction documents this time!
"The commissioners approved an amended Option B, which removes the battered wall at the base. A new steel and aluminum framing will be installed along with two to three inches of insulation, followed by the installation of a new exterior. This option bypasses the existing concrete block wall."
The so-called battered walls at the base of the building can be seen in the photograph above.  Apparently, the new exterior cladding will installed vertically, eliminating the angled base which, in my opinion, is a good move.
I understand that a contractor has already removed the granite cladding from the courthouse.  If anyone is in a position to photograph the "naked" building and send along a digital file or two, I would be pleased to post them.
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