Gilpin County Courthouse

Client: Gilpin County Commission

Site: Central City, Colorado

The Gilpin County Courthouse, a turn-of-the-century Italianate and Romanesque architectural style building, received little maintenance off and on throughout its history. This building has particular importance in Central City because it is a prominent visual landmark. The preservation work included an exterior cleaning, brick repointing, built-in gutter replacement, replacement of missing architectural elements, re-attachment of masonry elements, site drainage, and site landscaping. The window frames and metal cornice were also painted, and all broken glass panes were replaced. Due to existing site conditions, there was water penetration throughout the building (the site of the structure is extremely steep, and the building is set into a mountainside). For this reason, efflorescence and other stains on the brick were of great concern. Various cleaning techniques were evaluated, and test patches performed; different masonry stains required various cleaning techniques. Materials that were cleaned included wood, metal, brick masonry, and rusticated granite (rough cut).