Building and Restoration Fund

Your generous donations helps us continue our work on restoring our historic building! 

Since the handoff of the Old Washington County Courthouse to the Town of Salem and the creation of the Historic Salem Courthouse Preservation Association, Inc. (HSCPA) also just referred to as the Historic Salem Courthouse.

Part of the original mission of HSCPA was to celebrate our past by restoring and preserving the Courthouse. In these eighteen years, there has been nearly one million dollars raised and put toward restoration work. We have restored the Great Hall, the front doors, the porch, stabilized a settling foundation wall, created an activity room, a handicap ramp system, an emergency “fire staircase” from the second floor, replaced the roof cornices and box gutters, and restored most of the windows in the courtroom and all of the windows on the 1st floor.

We are anticipating final approval of a $125,000 State Assembly Grant through Carrie Woerner’s office. Working with the support of architects from John G. Waite and Associates, we will focus on using this money to advance our efforts to secure the exterior “envelope” of the building. This will include roofing, repointing, and painting. We will also finish the restoration of the courtroom windows.

We have come a long way, but we still have a way to go to fully restore the building. After the “envelope” is completed the interior work will be the next focus of our efforts. Finally, we hope to restore the tower on the front of the building and return the bell from its storage spot in the attic to its place of prominence in the new tower where it can be rung and heard once again.

As we work at restoring the physical building, we have worked with purpose to make the building available by providing programs and activities so that it has become a true “community center” for Salem. We will continue to expand our programs and keep them current with community needs as we move forward. As a community center the people of Salem and all of Washington County will have a place to meet, to learn, to experience new things, and to enjoy the quality of life that is part of the rich heritage of the land we love and the place we call home. Please help us by donating to our restoration fund.