Photo by Matt de Simone
By Matt de Simone
Fincastle Town Council held its first meeting of 2025 last Thursday night in the Fincastle Volunteer Fire Department Training Room.
Botetourt County Capitol Projects Manager Rich Evans joined the meeting to update council on the recent progress in the construction of the new Botetourt County Circuit Courthouse. Last month, the county passed a resolution awarding a general contract to Lynchburg-based Jamerson-Lewis Construction to begin the construction project.
“I’m very pleased (Jamerson-Lewis) got the contract,” Evans shared with council. “They’ve done a lot of good work around here… I would like to add that the architect has designed a beautiful complex that is going to be the center of Fincastle. It is absolutely gorgeous with the monument park, all the new green that’s going to be in there, the permanent cupula with the bell and the beam, all of the landscaping—it is going to be absolutely gorgeous for the center of the town.”
Evans gave Jamerson-Lewis a Notice to Proceed on the contract which begins on January 20. The company has 870 days to complete the project and it is expected for the project to reach completion by approximately July 1, 2027. Evans noted that he can’t “make promises” on behalf of the general contractor but shared that he has worked with the “reasonable” leadership of Jamerson-Lewis and understands the magnitude of the upcoming construction project.
The project has a few milestones ahead. Evans said that Jamerson-Lewis has 30 days to give the county a detailed construction schedule after receiving the Notice to Proceed. Following January 20, the company will officially be on the clock.
Additionally, the move of the Breckinridge Law Office and Hotel structure is projected to be completed by the end of July 2025. Tentatively, the courthouse is expected to be demolished by the end of this year, according to Evans.
“The emphasis of the pre-construction meeting (with Jamerson-Lewis last Wednesday) was to work with as much as we possibly could with the Town of Fincastle,” Evans added. “I know there’s a lot of things a lot of people want and there’s going to be a lot of people observing this project. Truthfully, the goal here is to work with the town as much as possible as well as Botetourt County and I’ll be the Botetourt County representative.”
Evans noted that is a preliminary date due to inspections and other work that needs to be done prior to the move. Two additional structures, the Dodd building and the old Fincastle fire station, will be demolished by mid-August of this year. Evans added that the Dodd building may be demolished ed before the old fire station and reiterated that these dates are all part of a preliminary schedule.
In terms of construction traffic, Evans informed council that he isn’t able to limit the general contractor to specific routes in town, but has given “excessive encouragement” to keep the trucks on Main Street and avoid using other roads in town. There are expected one-lane road closures around Roanoke Street between the Registrar’s Office and the courthouse building for “periods of time.” The town will be notified of any additional road closures that could occur. The hours of operation are scheduled to be from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. with overtime work expected. The “noisy” parts of construction are planned to be minimized to “working hours.” The plan is for construction to occur Monday through Friday.
“The project, towards the end… will probably be seven days a week,” Evans added.
“The schedule is not set up that way but I’ve done this enough to know somebody’s going to be (working on the weekends).”
One important note made by Evans is that items from the soon-to-be-demolished structures will be secured by the town for preservation and reuse. Those items include saving some of the rock along Roanoke Street, some of the older bricks from buildings, and beams and the belfry of the old courthouse. Evans asked for any other requests for additional items to be preserved to be sent to him.
“As part of the contract, there are 32 different items that are going to be preserved,” Evans said. “We’re going to put a temporary cupula up to hang the bell (and beam) so it can be maintained.”
Evans said the fencing around the courthouse entrance will be preserved along with the interior gas lights, the vault doors inside the courthouse, and the commemorative NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) disk for Lewis & Clark Trust, Inc.. He further noted any other items that haven’t yet been requested for preservation do not have to limited to the contract documents previously discussed.
The banners featuring facts about Botetourt’s history that were found along the initial fencing around the project provided by the Botetourt Preservation Partnership could soon return to the new construction fencing that will run along Roanoke Street to Route 220 and from Back Street to Main Street with an opening to gain access to the Clerk of the Court’s office, the Botetourt Extension offices, and pedestrian access to the Old Jail.
For more information about the upcoming Botetourt County Circuit Courthouse construction project, visit www.botetourtva.gov/707/Circuit-Courthouse-in-Fincastle.
Items to be salvaged for reuse or owner storage:
- The following items shall be carefully removed from the existing building and properly stored for reuse in the new work:
- Bell and supporting steel framing from cupola.
- Wood beam / framing located in cupola bearing signatures. Beam / framing will be identified by the Owner prior to removal and exact length will be determined.
- Dedication plates located on various items in the courtroom.
- Period Wall Lights in the courtroom.
- Vault door assembly and related trim (all 3 doors/ full depth of frame/ casing) located in the Clerk of Court’s office.
- Clerk of the Court Genealogy Table and Chair.
- Jury Room table (currently in the temporary courtroom in the Public Safety Building)
- Entry gate and fence elements.
- All existing site wall stones and 1 load of the existing brick are to be salvaged and removed offsite to Botetourt County wastewater treatment plant located just N of Town on rte 220. Coordinate storage at the offsite facility with Owner.
- Exterior stone stair treads located at the Courthouse portico are to be salvaged and removed offsite to Botetourt County wastewater treatment plant located just N of Town on rte 220. Owner may identify treads for salvage or disposal prior to demolition. Coordinate storage at the offsite facility with Owner.
- Cap stones located on the exterior site wall at the site.
- Salvage items are to be removed prior to demolition of any structure or substrate housing the listed items.
