Kenosha County courtroom restoration effort underway ahead of centennial

KENOSHA, Wis. - In its nearly 100 years, the Kenosha County Courthouse has seen its fair share of historical events and high-profile cases.

As the clock ticks closer to the centennial of its construction, a group is working to help turn back time on changes made to the building’s largest courtroom and restore architecture that has been covered up or destroyed. 

"So, unfortunately, this is all we have left," Frank Martinelli, the county’s engineering project manager, said as he walked through the so-called two-story tall "ceremonial courtroom" on the second floor.

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When the courthouse was built in 1925, the ceremonial courtroom had an arguably more ornately designed twin across the hall, based on photos. It was originally used as a municipal court, but its interior was gutted and repurposed for reuse more than 50 years ago.

Portions of the ceremonial courtroom may seem unchanged; the white walls accented by the dark woodwork. But when you look closer, where workers carefully stripped the paint from the walls, and opened up the drop ceiling, you can see what was covered up.

"There were probably 12 coats of paint, until they got to the original stenciling that you can see in the book," Martinelli said, referencing stenciling on wall panels shown in a commemorative book published for the building’s grand opening.

For the last couple of years, work had been done to carefully peel back the damage done over the previous decades. Martinelli points to one example of such damage, when a concrete-like mixture was poured on top of the art glass skylight that runs nearly the length of the courtroom.

"We don’t know exactly why. Doing our research, we think it might have been for safety back then," Martinelli said.

As well as damage done in the name of upgrades, at the time. Ornamental plaster cut into or destroyed, along with a frieze of a Lincoln quote ringing the ceiling, to install air vents for heating and air conditioning. The maze of duct work, wires and plumbing was then covered up with a drop ceiling.

"It was in the 1960s that they put all of this in."

Now, the hope is to change that, restoring the courtroom to what it looked like by the time the courthouse turns 100. A lot of work to do in a very short amount of time.

"It is," Martinelli said, "but we did it in a very small controlled space."

The work to peel back those layers of changes was done with a purpose. A portion of the original skylight was carefully restored. Ornamental plaster fixed. A section of wall painted to its original tan color. 

The systematic work done to give the county a better idea of how, and how much it will cost, to restore the courtroom to what it once was. And for Martinelli, there’s a personal connection to the courtroom.

"It would be great honor to bring this back to its former glory," said Martinelli. "My parents took their oath of citizenship, when they became citizens, in this courtroom."

That courtroom had been home to Judge Bruce Schroeder for nearly four decades. He started as an assistant district attorney in the 1970s.

"At that time it was heavy, heavy drapery. Very dark in there. Dark blue chairs on an olive green carpet," Schroeder said in his chambers following a morning on the bench. "Also in that era, didn’t have a whole lot of respect for a building that was only built 40 years before."

The gaping hole in the ceiling is hard to ignore. Schroeder had been making note of it to jurors and those in the gallery since it was opened up for exploratory work before the pandemic.

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"It’s ugly. It’s really ugly right now," Schroeder said with a chuckle. "But that’s part of the process."

And that process is not cheap. Restoration and mechanical upgrades will cost about $3.8 million, with more than $2 million covering the restoration work. The rest going toward a new heating and ventilation system.

The cost of the restoration is being funded through private donations, not taxpayer dollars. The Jeffris Family Foundation, which helps support preservation work in the Midwest, is providing a $675,000 challenge grant with a 2-1 match. A total of $1.35 million must be raised through private donations to move the project forward.

And time is ticking to raise the money and have the restoration completed in time for the building’s 100th anniversary.

"We’re trying to get money raised in the next two years," said former Kenosha County Executive Jim Kreuser, who was involved in the project from the beginning.

"After seeing (the restoration work done at) the state capitol, this seemed like a great fit."

A Blue Ribbon Committee is now working to raise private donations for the work. The committee is co-chaired by former Kenosha County Executive John Collins and retired Circuit Court Judge Mary Wagner.

Kreuser says it’s a project that goes beyond the typical courtroom activity.

"This is going to be open for mock trials, for civics classes, to talk about the history. The quote by Abraham Lincoln that goes around this spectacular courtroom," he said. "Those type of things, and citizenship, we want to promote here."

The Kenosha Community Foundation is the fiscal sponsor of the project. To learn more about the project, or to donate, visit the restoration project's website.