by Don Moniak

January 26, 2024

Aiken County’s downtown judicial center is being modernized and growing beyond the historic courthouse at Chesterfield Street and Park Avenue. The decision to expand downtown, instead of building anew on the edge of town, will result in substantial taxpayer savings, preserve the traditional use of three historic buildings, and maintain downtown’s private legal culture.

Aiken County Council approved the purchase of the City of Aiken’s former Municipal Building at 214 Park Avenue, SW, for use as the County Solicitor’s Office in December 2023; Aiken City Council gave final sale approval on January 22, 2024. 

Aiken County is also close to finalizing the free acquisition of the Charles E. Simons Jr. Federal Courthouse, at 223 Park Avenue SW, from the federal government.

These two property transfers, along with pending interior upgrades to the County Courthouse, will keep the County’s judicial system centered in downtown Aiken.

The situation is a win-win for Aiken County and its County Seat, the City of Aiken. The former will modernize its downtown judicial infrastructure in a cost-effective means that saves taxpayers tens of millions of dollars; while preserving the historical integrity of Park Avenue from Laurens to Chesterfield Streets.

The County Seat of Aiken retains the economic benefits derived from hosting the essential business of the justice system. Attorneys and legal staff in the numerous law offices within a several hundred feet of the County Courthouse can still walk to conduct their business; and their clients will continue to visit the downtown offices.

Supply, Demand, and the County’s Judicial Complex.

As Aiken County’s population grows, the demands of adhering to the State of South Carolina’s Criminal and Civil Codes only intensify. The county judicial complex, centered in downtown Aiken, has experienced a heavy burden from this growth for more than a decade. 
(In 2023, Aiken County Council also approved a $13.8 million expansion of the County jail on Wire Road to alleviate chronic overcrowding, again reflecting the county’s growth).

The idea for an entirely new complex on County-owned property adjacent to the looming County Administrative Offices on University Avenue also germinated more than a decade ago. The options were to build anew at a cost of tens of millions of dollars, or to reorganize an existing supply of government facilities at a much lower cost.

Aiken County began negotiating more than two years ago with the City of Aiken to purchase the historic Aiken Municipal Building at 214 Park Avenue, NW. Concurrently, the County was negotiating with the Federal Government to obtain the seldom-used, historic Charles E. Simons Jr. Federal Courthouse on Park Avenue, across the street from the former Municipal Building.

As reported in Why is the City of Aiken Toying with 113 Downtown Jobs, the County’s goal was to seek the least expensive alternative to alleviating the overcrowding at the historic County Courthouse at Park Avenue and Chesterfield Street.

Obtaining the Municipal Building would also consolidate the County Solicitor’s offices from three locations to one central location, thus improving the efficiencies of that department. Obtaining the Federal Courthouse would provide more space for civil and/or criminal trials, and provide interim space to upgrade the existing courthouse interior.

Aiken County Council Approves Purchase of Former City Hall

As told in 113 Jobs , the negotiations between city and county were disrupted by a sudden decision in April 2022 to move the proposed Project Pascalis conferenced center from Newberry Street to the Municipal Building. Negotiations ensued between the owners of Newberry Hall and the City of Aiken for the future ownership and operational structure of such a conference center. 

As reported in Project Pascalis Conference Center Costs, that process cost the City upwards of $100,000 dollars, delayed the County’s judicial system modernization, and created considerable uncertainty for the latter process. The City’s costs included reimbursing Newberry Hall’s legal counsel $36,779.93; a luxury not afforded to other Project Pascalis property tenants who endured heavy pressure in 2022 to sign questionable, generic relocation agreements that were as uniform for a dry cleaner and restauranteur they were for real estate brokers and insurance agents. 

Thus, Project Pascalis not only was a plan to demolish half a block of downtown Aiken, it also could have resulted in the abandonment of the County’s judicial presence, an uncertain future for the historic County and Federal courthouses, and a debt load in the tens of millions of dollars for County taxpayers.

The end of Project Pascalis meant the full resumption of efforts to repurpose the by-now vacant, New Deal-funded Municipal Building from City administrative use to County administrative use. At the State of the City address in January 2023, Mayor Rick Osbon made a strong recommitment to this path.

On December 12, 2023, the first half of the County’s Solicitor’s Office plans became official when County Council approved the purchase of the Municipal Building for $2.4 million—which was $200,000 less than the appraised value. The purchase excludes the patio area of the Municipal Building and the “Brinkley Building” portion. (Figure 1). Both will be retained by the City; the former for use in The Alley events and the latter to be sold or used for a yet-to-be defined future municipal use; such as a well-needed public restrooms for Alley events.

County Council’s decision was anti-climactic. A short discussion occurred during a Judicial and Public Safety Committee Meeting, and the $2.4 million sale approval occurred during approval of Council’s larger “consent agenda;” alongside such notable acts as the naming of private roads.

The second half of the process involved Aiken City Council approving the sale of the building. Council unanimously and quietly approved the sale during both public hearings this month. There were no discussions between Council members, and only one citizen comment endorsing the plan.

Once the sale is authorized and the deed transfer is executed, the Solicitor’s Office can move in, as the well-maintained building will require almost no upgrades. No Design Review Board (DRB) approval is necessary, as there will be no facade changes.

The move serves to consolidate the County’s Solicitor’s Offices, which are presently spread across three buildings, into one facility directly across the street from the Federal Courthouse and only two blocks from the County Courthouse. This consolidation not only preserves the building in its current state, but also its traditional governmental use for which federal New Deal dollars were dedicated in the 1930’s.

Figure 2: Federal Courthouse in 1935 and 2020

The Charles E. Simons Federal Courthouse Freebie

According to Aiken County Council Chair Gary Bunker, the transfer of New Deal-funded Charles E. Simon Federal Courthouse (Figure 2) is close to fruition and inevitable. There is no purchase price because the federal government is essentially gifting the historic building to the County and its citizens.

This Aiken County Assessor’s office currently appraises the market value of the half-acre property at $687,000, but provides no estimated value for the ~5,420 building square foot itself. 

The building was added to the National Historic Register in 2003. The 2002 nomination form included a five-page description and statement of significance.

In addition to the historic structure continuing to grace Park Avenue, interior preservation is mandated. Most prominent in the main courtroom is the famous New Deal-era mural titled “Justice as Protector and Avenger.” (Figure 3)

According to the statement of significance, a mural created by artist Stefan Hirsch is located behind the judge’s bench and “depicts a lady justice as a simply clothed figure in red, white, and blue, alternately protecting the oppressed while prosecuting the evil elements in society.”

The mural was so controversial in the Jim Crow south that then presiding Judge Frank K. Myers had it covered with drapes, stating in part, that:

“You are advised that this piece of work is so offensive to me that, at my own expense, I had it covered as soon as possible after the opening of court, and that, as long as I preside in the Aiken court, it will not be displayed.”

To add context to this era, the mural was added only twelve years after the triple lynching of Lowman siblings Damon, Bertha and Clarence, all three of whom were expected to be acquitted of the crimes for which they’d been charged. However, the night before the trial, they were forcibly removed from the Aiken Jail on Chesterfield Street behind the Aiken County Courthouse. Ongoing efforts to erect a historic marker commemorating that tragic injustice have failed to gain traction.

While the City of Aiken has struggled to address the condition of the Richland Avenue side of the central downtown block, Aiken County’s sometimes infamous frugality will serve to preserve three of the most significant historical structures in downtown Aiken and add to the downtown’s historic role of hosting the County’s judicial complex.

Adding the two buildings also means that the County will own six historic structures in the downtown area, joining the County Courthouse, the newly renovated County Library on the former Aiken Institute, and what is now the County Museum. The sixth building is the increasingly blighted Old Hospital and County Administration Building on Richland Avenue—which the County and City have collectively allowed to fall into a worsening state of disrepair that would not be tolerated if it was privately owned.

Still, the City of Aiken has, in this instance, lived up to its role as County Seat, and helped to save County taxpayers tens of millions of dollars and avoid what certainly would have been a highly controversial effort to move the judicial complex to the edge of town.

Figure 4: The future judicial complex (left) and the 37-acre County owned parcel (right, within red outline) where a new judicial center was an option. The decade-old County Administrative Building (often jokingly referred to as the “Taj Mahal) is in the lower right.