May 10—Three of Decatur’s most iconic and historic buildings are getting funding help from the state while Somerville is getting another allocation for its old courthouse.
The state Legislature approved a series of appropriations in its fiscal 2025-26 budget in the spring session that ends next week.
State Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, chairman of the Finance and Taxation Education committee, said this week that there’s money budgeted to fund renovations of Decatur’s Carnegie Visual Arts, Princess Theatre Center for the Performing Arts and the Old State Bank Building and for the old Somerville Courthouse.
Orr said the budget includes a $1 million appropriation for an expansion plan at the Carnegie.
Carnegie Executive Director Kim Mitchell said they are planning to expand the art museum’s first and second floors to the west, so they can add to its gallery and education space.
Built in 1904 as a library, the museum at the corner of Church and Oak streets in Northeast Decatur is about 8,000 square feet with roughly 3,000 square feet of gallery space.
The Daikin America Education Center is in the center of the first floor and surrounded by offices.
“Some of our people are in super small offices that are actually closets,” Mitchell said. “And we don’t have enough storage.”
Mitchell said one of the main reasons for wanting to expand the educational area is so they can serve more children. They can only accept 30 campers at a time, so each camp “sells out before we even advertise them.” This summer’s Camp Carnegie is already sold out with a waiting list.
She said they also want to expand the gallery space that’s currently too small to host some artists’ exhibitions. Depending on the size, the museum typically has space for 40 to 45 pieces of art. Exhibitions are for six to eight weeks, with a very quick one-week transition period of switching from one exhibition to the next.
Mitchell said they had to put paintings over the windows recently, so they could display all of an artist’s paintings during a show.
“The size of our gallery keeps some artists away,” she said.
Mitchell said there’s not an exact budget for the expansion yet because an architect just began.
“I imagine the whole project is going to cost about $2 million,” Mitchell said. — More repairs
Orr said the Princess is getting $85,000 to go toward the second phase of repairs and structural improvements.
On Monday, the City Council awarded a $42,400 contract to Schoel Markland Architecture to do engineering and architectural design on the Princess’ structural and roof issues.
According to the agreement, the next phase includes preparing bid documents for demolition and temporary bracing required to elevate an existing damaged truss for removal and repair; roof demolition and repair; handrails repaired after damage by a water leak; and ceiling, flooring and framing demolition and repair. — Bank repairs
Orr said the city is getting $100,000 for the repair and renovation of the Old State Bank, which opened July 29, 1833. It was one of three branches of the Bank of the State of Alabama.
City Historic Preservation Coordinator Caroline Swope reported Monday to the City Council that the architect is at about 90% done with a plan for the building. The initial estimate for the work is $3 million.
Swope said in March 2024 that a building inspection revealed the need to remove a tree growing into the foundation of the building, reinforce the joists, do structural work in the basement, tie down the roof and north wall and, one of the most pressing issues, stabilize the outside stairs.
This is the fourth grant Decatur has received for renovating the old bank. The city received a $575,000 state appropriation for the 141-year-old bank last year. It also got a $12,000 grant and matched it with $43,000 to pay for the structural report.
In 2023, the city received a $482,357 grant from the state Historical Commission for the project.
The last major renovation of the Old State Bank occurred in the late 1970s. Before that, the bank underwent a restoration in the 1930s. — Courthouse displays
Orr said Somerville is getting $75,000 for antique display cases and historic panels to use in the old courthouse. The displays will show tools and other items from the era when the courthouse opened in 1837.
This funding goes with the $1.8 million renovation of the Somerville Courthouse, which Somerville Mayor Darren Tucker said is almost complete.
“We’re basically taking everything to where it’s as close to original as possible,” Tucker said. “We redid the courtroom (on the second floor) and the judge’s bench.”
Tucker said the renovation is scheduled for a November completion, but the work appears to be ahead of schedule.
While the renovation is almost finished, Tucker said the one piece of the project they would like to do is add heating and air conditioning.
“A heating and air conditioning unit would allow the school classes to visit in the winter and summer,” Tucker said. “It would be the only modern thing in the building.”
Tucker said he also talked with Orr about getting directional signs on Interstate 65 that show visitors how to go to the courthouse, which is just over 6 miles from the nearest interstate exit.
— bayne.hughes@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2432