| Blue
Earth County Courthouse Case Study
| The Project
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Blue Earth County Courthouse
Mankato, Minnesota
Dome restoration/new construction
Start date: June 9, 1990
Completion date: February 22, 1991
The Blue Earth County Courthouse
is located in Mankato, Minnesota. It was originally
built in 1887 and served as both the center for legal
proceedings and the jailhouse. The architectural style
was Richardson Romanesque and was complemented by a
copper dome topped off with a beautifully ornate sculpture
of Lady Justice.
In June of 1990, Schwickert’s
began the process of restoring not only the copper dome
on top of the courthouse, but also the copper statue
and the large clock faces that completed the domes’
design. While they had originally designed the production
to transpire on top of the dome, both weather and seasonal
restrictions forced Schwickert’s to remove the
entire structure—bringing it into their Mankato
location to complete the project.
Both the external dome structure
and the internal statue supports had rusted significantly
and the process of moving the structures was as complex
as the process of restoring the original internal support
structures. Aside from the natural forces that took
their toll on the dome and statue, there was also a
significant amount of statue damage from bullet holes.
While the source of this damage is speculative—many
thought the holes were a product of disgruntled citizens
and their angry demonstration toward the legal system.
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