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The 1896 Bexar County Courthouse is getting repairs to its facade after county commissioners approved nearly $320,000 for the work during their last February meeting.
The courthouse with a “beehive” dome on one of the two towers, is of the Romanesque style of architecture that architect J. Reily Gordon was known for. It is made of native Texas granite and sandstone.
Gordon, who grew up in San Antonio and worked as a young architect early in life in the Alamo City, designed 72 courthouses, including a dozen Texas courthouses, notably the nearby 1898 Comal County Courthouse and the Arizona State Capitol at Phoenix.
The decaying sandstone in some locations on the Bexar County Courthouse is one of the biggest concerns.
“We’re really targeting those cornice and ornamental Pecos red sandstones, replacing them with new carved pieces, probably hand-carved pieces to match the original intent, so they will last for another 130 years,” said Dan Curry, the county’s facilities manager.
Curry said the weather takes its toll on any building, but some spots are more susceptible than others.
“Now the cornice pieces are the ones that get the most weather,” he said. “They’re the little ribbons at the top or at the base of the beehive dome that stick out, almost like ledges.” He added they also attract a lot of bird poop.
Curry said part of the work is to check and protect the structural steel in the beehive dome that could rust over time.
“It’s in good condition, but you need to protect it from further erosion,” he said. The steelwork could be encapsulated or painted as a part of long-term structural stability.
Though no writings could be found about the intent of the beehive design, such designs were not uncommon in courthouses to symbolize them as the centers of community and industry, just like a real beehive.
Gordon did write proudly of the 32-foot arch that connects the beehive tower to the other tower above the steps of the main courthouse entrance.
He was also proud of the design of the east side of the courthouse for the way it captured the prevailing breeze from the southeast. Air conditioning had yet to be invented. Curry said the courthouse did not get air conditioning until 1963. He said before 1963, cooled winds from the San Antonio River Walk also blew into the building to cool it.
Curry said they’ll also examine the state of the exterior fire escape stairs, but added they are only retained for historical purposes and aesthetics.
He said no one will be asked to use them in the case of an emergency. And he said the curious who try to climb them are arrested.
The courthouse exterior work will be overseen by the architectural firm of Ford, Powell & Carson.
Some other interesting facts about the courthouse include that there is a time capsule closed up during the ceremony that marked the start of construction. It was filled with speeches made by dignitaries that day, among other items of the era.
Curry said the original plaster in the walls had horse hairs in it to help keep it in place.
There’s also an account in county records of plumbing problems in the courthouse when it was first completed, which were so severe the plumber was arrested. Commissioners eventually cleared him of wrongdoing, and he was released.
The courthouse, which is a city, state, and national historic landmark, has been added to or remodeled in 1914, 1926, 1963, 1972, 1973, and 2015, which saw the courthouse returned to its 1920s appearance.
Curry said the courthouse is an historic jewel in downtown San Antonio along with the Alamo and San Fernando Cathedral.
Gordon also designed the Texas Pavilion at Chicago’s World’s Colombian Exposition and served 13 terms as the president of the New York Society of Architects before dying in 1937 at the age of 73.
