SUNBURY – It’s back to what it looked like 100 years ago…The completion of the Northumberland County Courthouse, first built in 1865, was celebrated with a ribbon cutting Friday to mark the completion of $4.7 million in renovations.
“I can picture the horses and the people. The courthouse at that time was like where everything was posted. For it to still be standing, its humbling to have a place like this that hopefully goes for another 100 years,” said County Commissioner Chairman Sam Schiccatano.
Schiccatano also called this project, along with building the current county prison in Coal Township, the two biggest projects in county history. The project included remodeling the exterior of the building and dome, adding a fourth court room, and adding an attorney conference room in the back of courtroom 1. Planning started in 2019 with construction beginning in July 2021.
Schiccatano also gave a lot of credit to county Planning Coordinator Justin Skavery, who was in charge of the project for applying for% a $1.5 million state grant to help fund a majority of the work.
“The courthouse, the way the county views it, is a symbol of the community at large and it means a lot to us that we can preserve it for future generations.”
Schiccatano also gave credit to former State Senator John Gordner in obtaining the $1.5 million grant, along with State Representatives Lynda Schlegel Culver (R-108th, Sunbury) and Kurt Masser (R-107th, Elysburg). Schiccatano says the project was originally projected to cost $4.3 million, but unexpected construction issues in the dome led to extra expenses.
Despite that, Schiccatano says the county was able to use left-over funding from the prison project, and for the last three years now, the county has not had to raise taxes, “That money was all put aside and done in the right way, and we have, for the general fund and for our budget, have not used one cent of COVID money to do that. I want to make that perfectly clear. This county is running probably smoother than it has in a long time.”
Some minor work will continue this spring when the courthouse will have flooring replaced on the first floor, and carpet in the building will also be replaced. That’s courtesy of a $100,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Historic Museum Commission. The county is also looking into further illuminating the clock tower, but those plans are still tentative.
