Dear Editor,
The recent loss of an ancient tree and several others on Main Street, located on the grounds of our courthouse, touches many of us who place value on our natural surroundings and landscapes, especially our historic ones. Sad to say, many questions remain.
But the potential for an even greater loss will surely occur if our commissioners move all courthouse functions away from the heart of Greensboro. For the courthouse is indeed our heart. It is our cherished symbol of local government. It fosters a sense of community and pride in our local heritage. It is the anchor point of Greensboro’s original plan and tells the story of who we are as a county. Furthermore, the economic benefits of bringing people downtown should speak volumes.
Completed in 1849, our courthouse distinguishes itself by never having closed its doors to daily functioning. That, to me, is a point of pride, not to mention its listing in the National Register of Historic Places. And I underscore “places” to include the entire property with its grounds, and thus any landscape plan is expected to remain appropriate. I was honored to have been part of the team working with Judge Ogletree, which initiated the courthouse’s award-winning restoration and expansion in the late 1990s.
One of the finest preservation architectural firms in the state completed the project. This as well as other successful preservation stories throughout our country illustrate how well something of age can be brought into modern times and serve its purpose adequately.
Before any talk of moving, have we truly outgrown the space today, and has a proper needs assessment ever been done? If additional space is deemed necessary, there already exists a stunning proposal researched and presented by the Carl Vinson Institute at UGA in 2019.
It shows a detailed image of a beautiful courthouse annex located downtown just across from the existing courthouse in what is now a city park. This outside wisdom was well aware of the importance of keeping things downtown! I urge us all to request a copy from our Chamber of Commerce.
Without its daily comings and goings, our courthouse would become merely a sad shell of the past.
When the late John Waters, a respected preservationist, a founder of UGA’s School of Environmental Design, and someone who valued our own community, published his heralded Maintaining a Sense of Place, he gave us an important handbook for community preservation.
I think he would agree that it’s not just the study of history that’s valuable, but what history can do in bridging the gap between those who have come before us, our community today, and that of the future. And that with our Greene County courthouse alive and well, it can tell a very good story.
Sincerely, Mimi Vickers