Renovations of the iconic Old Courthouse in downtown St. Louis received another boost last week when the federal government announced another $17 million in funding.
According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said the additional funds will pay for work on the courthouse’s upper floors and exterior, including the dome.
The repairs will supplement work already in progress on four new exhibits and a raft of behind-the-scenes upgrades, including a modern heating and cooling system. The new money will help address issues like windows leaking and causing damage to the structure, said Pam Sanfilippo, chief of museum services at Gateway Arch National Park.
It will not delay re-opening, however. That’s still expected in late spring 2025.
Renovations on the courthouse began last fall. At the time, it was pegged at over $27 million.
The courthouse was the site of the original Dred Scott lawsuit in 1846, where he and his wife sued for their freedom from slavery. The U.S. Supreme Court in 1857 ruled against the Scotts, which stoked public outrage that partially led to the start of the Civil War three years later.
The Old Courthouse is part of the nearby Gateway Arch National Park complex. Both are fewer than 10 blocks east of the Tucker Boulevard alignment of Route 66.
The 1816 courthouse, built in stages, once was Missouri’s tallest habitable building.
The courthouse was abandoned in 1930, and it soon became a part of the future Gateway Arch complex, then called the Jefferson Expansion National Memorial.
(Image of the Old Courthouse in St. Louis by Warren LeMay via Flickr)