The Historic Adair County Courthouse in Columbia, Kentucky was built in 1884 and placed on the national historic register in 1974. It is one of very few original existing Kentucky courthouses. The courthouse was vacated approximately three years ago when the public offices housed there moved to a new judicial center. Since that time, the Adair Heritage Association (AHA) has been conducting community events to continue use of the courthouse. However, funding for a new HVAC system and other needed repairs is essential for ongoing and long term use. The Adair Heritage Association is working on fundraising for the repairs, but those efforts are progressing slowly.
Students in the Department of Merchandising, Apparel and Textiles (MAT) in the School of Human Environmental Sciences, under the direction of Dr. Vanessa Jackson, are beginning a project to help the AHA chronicle unique architectural aspects of the historic courthouse as well as individual room ideas. The participants in the project include students from the Rural Retail Development course in the MAT program. The project will be under the direction of graduate student Amanda Caldwell, with assistance from Tabitha Huston, Merna Brown, Aniket Sengupta and Natasha Saunders. The project partners are excited about their ideas and potential uses for the Adair County Courthouse.
Anyone interested in learning more about the historical courthouse may contact Ellen Zornes (AHA member) at ellen.zornes@adair.kyschools.us.