Repairs to Begin on Renwick Courthouse Bell Tower
The historic building has been vacant, but is recommended for adaptive reuse into an events space.
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
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Repairs are set to begin this week to the bell tower of the Renwick Courthouse, one of Fredericksburg’s most distinctive and historically significant structures.
According to a newsflash that went out last week from the City of Fredericksburg, scaffolding will go up around the bell tower this week, and structural repairs will be conducted over the next four months.
The work, which will be completed by Greensboro, NC-based WxTite, includes structural framing repairs inside the tower, repointing brickwork on the interior, reglazing windows, and other cleaning and repair tasks.
“The contractor is also taking special care to ensure the Revere bell inside the tower is protected during the course of work,” the newsflash states.
According to a history of the courthouse published by the Historic Fredericksburg Foundation, Inc, the building was designed by New York architect James Renwick and constructed between 1851 and 1852 by a local carpenter and builder, William Baggett.
The “eclectic Gothic Revival style” of the courthouse makes it unique among Virginia’s civic buildings, according to a 2016 historic structures report prepared for the city of Fredericksburg. It’s also unique because it is the only courthouse credited to Renwick, who is best known for designing churches and museums, such as Grace Church and St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
The Renwick was in public use in Fredericksburg from its opening in 1852 until 2014, when the new courthouse was completed. It has stood largely vacant since then.
A working group which met throughout 2023 to determine the best future use for the Renwick recommended in December of that year that the building should remain in public use and, through a public-private partnership, that it should be adapted into a event space and performance venue.
Kate Schwartz, the city’s historic resources planner, presented a plan for implementing the working group’s recommendation to City Council at a work session in February of 2024. The first step is to perform necessary repairs, including those starting this month on the bell tower.
The second step is to complete further evaluation of the building’s condition. Schwartz said this would involve an assessment of the roof and all windows and an inventory and mapping of all existing cracks, among other work, which was to take place this fiscal year.
Establishing the public-private partnership for adaptive reuse of the building using historic tax credits is step three. Schwartz said at the February 2024 work session that staff would prepare draft solicitation letter for Council to review in “late 2024.”
The city’s current five-year capital improvement plan—approved as part of the budget for fiscal year 2026, which begins July 1—includes $125,000 for “Renwick building improvements.” Another $125,000 is budgeted in fiscal years 2028 and 2029, for a total of $375,000.
Last year’s five-year CIP allocated $225,000 for “Renwick building improvements” every year through fiscal year 2029, for a total of $1.1 million.
The Advance reached out to the city with questions about the status of the condition assessments and the budget for building improvements.
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A treasure too long overlooked. Preserve. Excellent!