Copper Craft Revives Mississippi County Courthouse

by Paul Deffenbaugh | 1 December 2021 12:00 am

The Metal Construction News Project Excellence Awards judges noticed. “You just don’t see this kind of handiwork or replication,” says Steve Dumez, FAIA, “It’s a really beautiful replacement.”

Pointing to the devotion to the craft, judge William S. Duff, AIA, LEED AP, says, “In an era of manufactured materials and assembly of those manufactured materials, there is a handmade quality to what we’re seeing and a by-hand application of these elements, and that to me is synonymous with craftsmanship.”

For Matthew S. Kruntorád, AIA, LEED AP, interest in the project was more than just aesthetic. “I want to spend several months with them as they fabricate this stuff because I think it would just be fascinating. It’s really inspiring to see the dedication and commitment to do this type of work.”

The Project

The revival work on the dome was overseen by Aaron Ruby, AIA, LEED AP, Revival Architecture, Scott, Ark., who has worked across Arkansas on numerous historic renovation projects. He explains there are two county courthouses in Mississippi County, the second in Blytheville in the north end of the county. The original plan was to just build a new courthouse, but as one can imagine there is considerable rivalry between the two county seats so when they wanted to build new, Osceola sued the county. With a poor economy, declining population and a struggling downtown, the courthouse was an important centerpiece to the town. Osceola won the suit. The compromise was to renovate both courthouses.

“There are more than a hundred courthouses in the state, but the courthouse in Osceola in my opinion is one of the most beautiful,” says Ruby. “It’s full of subtle detail the way they finished it originally.” The dome has eight sides that taper up to a cupola with a finial on top. The hips are smooth and have buttons tracing up them that taper in size as well. The copper isn’t smooth, but textured. “The texture of the sheets,” says Ruby, “reflects the light and helps give it richness.” At the bottom of the dome are large copper scrolls, lending weight and a foundation to the dome.

It was behind those scrolls where most of the serious damage had occurred. There was evidence of a fire at one point that nobody can explain, but because the scrolls were used as cladding that is where water infiltrated and caused damage. The domes’ wooden frame remained intact; only the sheathing needed to be replaced. The final element of the dome replacement was an internal copper gutter.

The Craftsmanship

Working with copper is an old craft but is still technical and modern at the same time. Many of the same techniques that have been used for centuries to form copper, such as hand-pounding it, were used on the dome. But modern techniques of stamping and annealing the scrolls were required.

All the work was done by the craftsmen at Renaissance Historic Exteriors, who Ruby credits for their abilities and communication of the details.

“Anything that needs to be custom fabricated is shipped back to us in our shop,” says Chuck McLean, copper studio manager for Renaissance. “I basically reverse engineer it and try to improve it in terms of the way it was constructed to begin with.”

McLean points to another remarkable bit of copper craftsmanship, and that is the sphere on the top of the finial. It is made from 1/8-inch-thick copper and is 36 inches in diameter. “That’s a pretty big sphere to be turned,” he says.

Because of the craft of these artisans, the dome has been replaced, the courthouse preserved, and the square still retains its role as the center of the town. The good news in all this besides the devotion to excellence and craftsmanship is that Mississippi county has become a mecca for the growing steel industry in the United States with firms such as Nucor-Yamato Steel Co. and Big River Steel providing more than 5,000 manufacturing jobs in an area the new economy has missed. There’s a lot to be proud of in the county and the dome on the courthouse is one of them.

Source URL: https://www.metalconstructionnews.com/articles/copper-craft-revives-mississippi-county-courthouse/

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