Lady Justice Gets a Lift from Barnhart

Barnhart played a part in the recent restoration of a historic Holmes County Courthouse in Millersburg, Ohio. The courthouse, constructed in 1885, was in bad need of repair to restore it to its former glory.

The project involved the removal and replacement of the clock tower façade. A new cupola had to be fabricated. The Lady Justice statue that resided on the second floor balcony for decades also had to be moved.

Midstate Constractors headed up the project with the assistance of Barnhart. They constructed a new cupola around the original steel frame. Several ornamental pieces were fabricated to make them look as close to the originals as possible. This involved the creation of Ionic capitals, columns and decorative cornices. According to a story in local news source, The Daily Record, there was enough copper on the project to make 4,883,200 pennies. 

When it was time to move the pieces to their final destinations, Barnhart’s Canton branch got to work. Using a Grove GMK 6250 crane, crane operator John-Mark Ziegler placed Lady Justice on top of a copper base high on the north side of the main roof. He then raised the copper cupola, which was guided into place by the Midstate crew.

The raising of the cupola attracted numerous spectators and a crew from Cleveland News 5. The project was profiled in the following story.