Tarlton completed the two-year renovation of the Old Courthouse, one of St. Louis’ oldest, most significant destinations for generations of area students, families, visitors and history buffs.
Slated to open to the public in spring 2025, the Old Courthouse has now been renovated only twice. The stately building originally was constructed in the years spanning 1839 to 1862. This renovation project is jointly funded through a public-private partnership between the National Park Service and Gateway Arch Park Foundation.
As general contractor, the Tarlton team created improved safety and accessibility at the historic site, installing an elevator to make the second floor accessible for the first time in the building’s history. Critical updates also included installation of new heating, air conditioning and fire suppression systems, and restoration of all windows. The team removed and replaced the building’s old window sashes and installed new window handles, locks, pulleys and chains.
The restoration also encompassed renovations to the building’s flooring and ceilings and the removal and remediation of asbestos and lead paint.
Still to be completed in coming weeks, the Old Courthouse will offer four new galleries featuring state-of-the-art exhibits that include the original documents and legal petitions filed by hundreds of individuals for their freedom. This will include an expanded focus offering new insights into the long struggle by Dred and Harriet Scott to gain their freedom, the legacy created by the court’s ultimate 1857 landmark decision, and also Virginia Minor’s fight for a woman’s right to vote. Additional exhibits include a retrospective on African American life in St. Louis, as well as a look at the building’s many architectural features, a re-created courtroom among them.
Serving on the Tarlton team were Josh Hodges, project manager; Malia Kalahele, senior project engineer; Jeff Damlow, project superintendent; Mark Cain Jr., project superintendent for the concrete work; and Emily Douglas, project accountant. Also supporting the project were Roslyn Croft, inclusion & diversity manager; Jason Bretz, vice president; and several preconstruction & estimating team members. Chief Operating Officer Sondra Rotty was project executive.
“Tarlton was honored to help bring the new vision for the Old Courthouse to life,” said Rotty. “We had our sights set on this project for several years, appreciating its significance to St. Louis and to our country. Our team arrived on site every day to an exacting, extensive scope of work that needed to be safely and expertly completed for the benefit of generations of visitors to this historic site.”
The renovations are the final component of the $380 million CityArchRiver project, the largest public-private partnership in the history of the National Park Service. It has resulted in revitalizations to Gateway Arch park grounds, the Arch Visitor Center, Museum at the Gateway Arch, St. Louis Riverfront, Luther Ely Smith Square and Kiener Plaza.