Courthouse facelift continues
The second floor of the Fayette County Courthouse will continue with its gradual facelift as work proceeds to open a skylight that has been closed for nearly 100 years. President Judge Conrad B. Capuzzi, who has pushed for the work since he became the county’s head judge several years ago, said the 20-tile skylight will mirror an amber-colored dome below it.
Capuzzi spearheaded the project, during which the dome was open in 2003.
Capuzzi said he isn’t sure how long the skylight has been covered, “But if there’s anyone out there who has the answer, I’d like to know,” he said.
“Fortunately, whomever took the glass out had the foresight to store it,” Capuzzi said. “I would analogize this to discovering a vintage automobile that was stored and forgotten about for decades,” he said. “The natural reaction would be to refurbish and display it.”
The skylight was installed when the courthouse was built in 1892, Capuzzi said.
Although no one is quite sure when the skylight was covered, a newspaper dated 1914 was found in the covered dome. Uncovering and restoring the dome directly below the skylight is a project Capuzzi spearheaded in 2003, shortly after he became the county’s president judge.
He has made numerous other improvements out of the court’s budget, including redoing several court-related offices and rooms. Capuzzi has changed hallway to fixtures to spruce up the halls of the second floor of the courthouse, where all but one of the judge’s courtrooms are located.
The tiles are each 51 inches by 51 inches and are being restored by Steve Andaloro of Andaloro Construction in Hopwood.
Metal rods to ensure that it holds will reinforce the glass in the skylight. It will be artificially lit from above, Capuzzi said.
The project was funded through a $61,000 grant through the National Road Heritage Corridor and a match of $61,000 in court funds. The county, at a recent commissioners’ meeting, paid $2,200 from the general fund into the project to round out the total $124,200 cost.
Capuzzi said the court funds are drawn from money collected by magisterial district judge warrant fees. That money is used at the court’s discretion, he said.
Capuzzi said the courthouse is a gem, and he’s glad that it’s lasted as long as it has with the minimal work that’s been done.
“This building’s owned by the taxpayers. The commissioners hold it in trust,” Capuzzi said, noting that it’s important to keep it up.
Before his tenure as president judge is up, Capuzzi said he would like to finish the rotunda area that includes the skylight and murals.
“I don’t know if it’ll be a possibility, so I hope someone picks up the ball,” he said.
American artist Alice Schille may have painted the four murals of angels. A 1902 article credits Schille for the paintings, but misspells her name.
Darlene Cobb of Keny Galleries Inc. said that another person at the Columbus, Ohio, gallery have examined photos of the paintings and is unsure if Schille was the artist.
Cobb said if Schille did the work, it was early in her career. She also indicated that the angels were not typical of her work.
Schille, according to Internet biographies, is most noted for paintings of street scenes and women and children.