Denton County officially opened a new courthouse on Thursday. They did that right.
The four-story, 96,000-square-foot building houses a dozen district departments, some of which were previously scattered across various other buildings. Circle leaders say consolidation will promote efficiency and communication.
The new administrative court building is part of a 10 acre campus with other buildings connected by footpaths, including one via a recycled iron bridge that crosses a small water feature. The campus also includes memorials for police and fire departments, an amphitheater, public toilets, and open lawns with benches and tables.
The $ 45 million building was funded through a 2008 bond election. Construction began in November 2018 but was delayed by the pandemic.
The district’s historic courthouse, built in 1896, still stands on the downtown square, about five kilometers from the new campus. It houses a museum and there are plans to move a district court there.
Texas doesn’t get a new district court every day. And it is not easy to expand this collection. It contains some beautiful structures that house rich treasures from Texan history.
The brass marker, unveiled Thursday and soon to be installed on the new courthouse, includes a quote from Winston Churchill: “We design our buildings; then they shape us. “
Denton County appears to be in good shape in that regard. It might have been easier or cheaper for the county to move offices to an abandoned large store. It may have been tempting to cause a sensation with avant-garde design. But Denton did better. Put simply, the new building looks like a courthouse. It is adorned with a zinc tile dome and a pommel that reaches a height of 132 feet. Below is a clock face and a portico behind six huge columns. The back of the building, facing the common room, has a modern look with glass walls, an offering to the future that is connected to the columnar past by a walk-through lobby.
As appropriate for a taxpayer funded project, cost-saving measures have been taken. Parts of the exterior are made of preformed concrete, and the interior includes artificial granite treatments. The county didn’t ship Austin granite and Pecos red sandstone as it did when the courthouse was built in 1896. But it is clear that efforts have been made to give the building a courtly aesthetic.
We’re not architects or architecture critics, but it seems to us that Denton has a stately and functional courthouse with plenty of access for community events. This is exactly how a government building should be.
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