Coshocton County Courthouse

Coshocton, Oh

Lepi Enterprises was contracted by Coshocton County to complete courthouse renovations. This phase of the renovations focused on Judge Robert Batchelor's courtroom. The work included removing the dropped ceiling to reveal and restore the original ceiling, which featured three small murals depicting the Coshocton seal, the federal emblem and the Great Seal of Ohio. It also upgraded lighting and reopened and restored the balcony, which had been closed since about 1950, Miller said. For years, the walled-off balcony provided storage space for the court recorder, she said, but now could be available for more gallery space, if the judge so decides. In the courthouse's early days, men watched proceedings from the balcony, which then featured spittoons, while women shopped, Miller said. The biggest "hiccup" in this phase of the restoration came when workers discovered the plaster beneath the uncovered murals was beyond repair, according to Bailiff Barry Ackerman. That required Zanesville artist Alan Cottrell to recreate the murals on drywall. The courtroom restoration began Dec. 3 and was completed by its April 1 deadline, Miller said. Lepi Enterprises of Zanesville oversaw the work.