The Navajo County Historic Courthouse along Route 66 in Holbrook, Arizona, soon will receive a new roof after the county’s board of supervisors approved a bid for the job.
The White Mountain Independent reports the low bidder was $197,000 from Restore Pro of Snowflake, Arizona. The contract calls for removing the old roof, including special handling of the asbestos-laced materials, and installing a new roof. Restore Pro also must not hire undocumented workers.
The newspaper said there is no required timeline to finish the work.
A new roof doesn’t seem like a lot, but it’s crucial to maintaining the structural integrity of a historic building. The now-defunct Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program awarded several grants over its nearly 20-year tenure for new roofs on historic structures as means of preservation.
An article five years ago in Route 66 News indicated a new roof was needed at the courthouse at the time:
The roof on the old courthouse has needed replaced for some time, and officials have been searching for a funding solution since a 2012 preservation report identified it as a top priority. The report states, “Water infiltration from the roof is causing damage to the courtroom ceiling and traveling along the walls, probably causing damage to the north wall and ceiling of the area above the jail; also damage to the interior walls below the tower area.” It does note, however, that the roof’s support structure appears to be in good condition.
The Independent also passed along some history of the courthouse:
Voters approved a $15,000 bond issue in 1898 to build the courthouse. The $3,000 jail was shipped as a unit from St. Louis and set in place. The county then built the courthouse around the jail. Workers completed the building in 1899.
George Smiley had the honor of the first trial in the state-of-the-art building. Convicted of murder, he was the only person hung on a scaffold at the courthouse, according to the Navajo County Historical Society.
Supervisors banned dances in the building in 1904 and approved installation of the first telephone in 1907.
In 1976, the county moved the courts and jail to larger buildings, leaving the building empty. Subsequently, a citizen’s group turned it into a museum, visitor’s center and headquarters for the Chamber of Commerce in 1983.
The courthouse also is home to the Navajo County Historical Society, which maintains a museum there and includes a Route 66 Auditorium that features eating establishments, lodging, service stations and other businesses that flourished during the Mother Road’s lifetime.
(Image of the Navajo County Historic Courthouse by Jimmy Emerson, DVM, via Flickr)