Fairfax County is planning to chart out a major renovation of a historic courthouse that has stood for more than 200 years and remains in use today.
The Old Courthouse, which houses the Fairfax Juvenile and Domestic Relations courts, is slated to hold a host of historic records once the renovation is complete. The job includes waterproofing basement walls that leak, replacing heating, air conditioning and plumbing, and repairing the roof.
The project is part of a major expansion of the county’s complex of court facilities that involves shifting and consolidating numerous judicial functions. The first phase of the expansion added a five-story structure next to the Jennings Judicial Center. The second phase, slated for a spring 2009 completion, involves renovating the Jennings facility, which now houses the historic records.
The Old Courthouse building will remain open to the public and operational during the renovation, county spokeswoman Merni Fitzgerald said.
The building was constructed in 1800, according to a history of the structure provided by the county. It changed hands several times between Union and Confederate forces during the Civil War, and was the site of the war’s first officer casualty, that of Capt. John Quincy Marr.
The county has set a June 20 deadline to receive proposals from firms to take on the renovation, and hopesto hold interviews for finalists in early August.
