LOUDON COUNTY, Tenn. — Loudon County commissioners will decide Tuesday night whether to pay for upgrades to the county courthouse which is undergoing restoration after a fire destroyed it in April 2019.
"To see where we’re at now, it’s going to be worth it in the long run. We’re doing it right and I think it’s going to be something that we can take a lot of pride in from the community and the county," county mayor Buddy Bradshaw said.
Insurance money will pay to restore the 150-year old building, but not for any upgrades to increase its efficiency.
Inside the building, huge air ducts pump out moisture with a mechanical hum and the vault sits open—drying from the million gallons of water firefighters poured the night of the fire and the inches of rain through the roof in the months after.
Some signs of legal life remain, including a doorplate marking the main courtroom upstairs.
But workers continue to march through the halls in hard hats.
"To see where it was at then and where it's at now, it's been an incredible process to watch," Bradshaw said.
Since the night of the April 2019 fire, crews installed a temporary roof. Now they're fixing fingers of broken plaster along the brick walls.
It won't be done for another 18 months to two years, Bradshaw said.
Rising from ashes, after all, takes time.