{"id":2444400,"date":"2019-05-20T07:44:00","date_gmt":"2019-05-20T13:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/pitkin-county-courthouse-floors-revealed-after-50-years\/"},"modified":"2019-05-20T07:44:00","modified_gmt":"2019-05-20T13:44:00","slug":"pitkin-county-courthouse-floors-revealed-after-50-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/pitkin-county-courthouse-floors-revealed-after-50-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Pitkin County Courthouse floors revealed after 50 years"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As workers slowly empty the Pitkin County Courthouse of its historical treasures in preparation for a nearly $5 million renovation, they\u2019ve also unearthed a treasure long forgotten.<\/p>\n

After removing the carpet last week from the main floor, what look to be the building\u2019s original hardwood floors from 1890 when it was constructed saw the light of day for the first time in a half-century.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody keeps commenting on them,\u201d said Jodi Smith, Pitkin County\u2019s facilities manager. \u201cThey look so beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 50-year-old carpet also apparently masked a odor particular to old buildings, which is now prevalent on the first floor. The unoffensive odor smells like old wood and musty history.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes you think of all the history and people who came and went (before),\u201d said Pitkin County Commissioner Patti Clapper.<\/p>\n

Because of all the comments, Smith said she\u2019s researching the cost and feasibility of refinishing the floor on the main entrance level.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it would be cool,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

With the old photographs gone, the steam-powered piece of mining equipment that sat in the lobby for decades carted off to the Aspen Historical Society and the old carpet taken up, the building\u2019s main floor has a decidedly different atmosphere. The space feels larger and footsteps previously muffled by the thick carpet now echo and bounce off the walls.<\/p>\n

Mark Maline, who helps maintain the courthouse, said Friday he doesn\u2019t think the newly exposed floors are original.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re in too good a shape,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Smith, however, said she thinks the floors are original, though she has no way of knowing for certain.<\/p>\n

Pitkin County is planning to spend an estimated $4.73 million to renovate the historic building. The Aspen Police Department and several county offices moved out of the courthouse last summer and into new buildings next door, freeing up a significant amount of space.<\/p>\n

Plans call for the courthouse to have just one public entrance \u2014 there are now three \u2014 with a security station standard at most courthouses throughout the country. Office space for court clerks, judges, the DA\u2019s Office and probation officers also will be renovated and expanded, while plans also call for a third courtroom to be built in the basement.<\/p>\n

jauslander@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As workers slowly empty the Pitkin County Courthouse of its historical treasures in preparation for a nearly $5 million renovation, they\u2019ve also unearthed a treasure long forgotten. After removing the carpet last week from the main floor, what look to be the building\u2019s original hardwood floors from 1890 when it was constructed saw the light […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2444400","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-18 12:50:11","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2444400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2444400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2444400\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2444400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2444400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2444400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}