REFUGIO, TX — In the town of Refugio’s central plaza, a courthouse has stood. The first one was built around 1850 which was replaced twice, burned down, and rebuilt in 1917.
“I think here more than a lot of places, the courthouse kind of represents our community and our resiliency,” County Judge Gigi Poynter said.
After almost 108 years, County Judge Poynter said the building is starting to show its age.
“Right now, we’re working on things like the roof. Making sure we envelope the building, stop water intrusion,” Poynter said.
Poynter wants to do more than just repairs though - she wants to do a full restoration.
“Through the Texas Department of Emergency Management, we were granted over 9 million. We do have that funding to get our roof project started and get started on other building aspects but we’re hoping to leverage those funds into larger grants,” Poynter said.
Like the grant provided by the Texas Historical Commission.
“We’ve applied for an emergency grant. I think that is capped at 4 million right now. If we can get that 4 million right now. If we can get that money, it can get us through the next few years,” Poynter said.
Poynter estimated restoring the courthouse will costs $26 million.
“Our architects have worked really hard over the last year in a half to show what a full restoration would look like but to also to phase it out to be compatible with our budget constraints and possibilities,” Poynter said.
Poynter will get her answer from the Texas Historical Commission this Friday, that is when they will announce the recipients of the courthouse restoration program.
