Alcorn County Courthouse Renovation Nears Year-End Finish
The long-running Alcorn County Courthouse renovation in downtown Corinth finally has a finish line in sight. County leaders now say construction on the historic building is on track to wrap up at the end of 2026, more than a year after the work was first expected to be done.
Alcorn County Chief Administrative Officer Bobby Burns gave the update during a recent walk-through of the courthouse, according to the Daily Corinthian.
Alcorn County Courthouse renovation timeline keeps slipping
Work on the courthouse started in May 2024 under a construction contract of 365 calendar days. That target came and went as crews ran into one complication after another inside the century-old building. Burns summed up the delays as “the hiccups of dealing with a 100-year-old building.”
The completion date had already been pushed back before. A Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal report last November put the cost of the restoration at about $5.2 million and projected the job would be finished by April. The new estimate moves that to the end of this year.
What the restored courtroom looks like
The centerpiece of the project is the circuit courtroom, which now looks dramatically different from the space residents have known for decades. Earlier renovations had boxed in the room with a false wall and a drop ceiling, cutting it off from the original windows. Burns told the Daily Journal last year that crews in the 1970s “didn’t touch anything above” the drop ceiling, which left much of the historic fabric intact for restorers to find.
Highlights of the work so far include:
- A restored main entrance to the courtroom, with the balcony above it now waiting on new seating.
- Uncovered ornamentation throughout the courtroom that had been hidden by later remodeling.
- New pedestal lights at the judge’s bench, designed by Belinda Stewart Architects to approximate the originals.
- Upgraded building systems, including lighting, electrical and HVAC, part of the scope outlined when the project began.
Belinda Stewart Architects, an Eupora-based firm known for restoring historic courthouses across Mississippi, designed the project.
More room for the Circuit Clerk’s office
The renovation also reshuffles office space. The area formerly used by the Alcorn County Tax Collector’s Office will become part of an expanded Circuit Clerk’s office once the work is complete.
The courthouse, which stands in the heart of downtown Corinth, is the seat of Alcorn County government and the home of the county’s circuit court. Residents doing business with county offices during construction should check with the individual office for its current location and hours.
What comes next
With the end-of-year target, the remaining work centers on finishing touches such as seating for the courtroom balcony and completing the office build-out. As with any project in a building this old, county officials have been careful to note that the schedule depends on what crews find as they go.
Alcorn News MS will follow the project as it heads toward completion. For more on county government, see our recent coverage of the Alcorn County supervisors’ storm loan and the latest Alcorn County news roundup.
Source: Daily Corinthian; background from the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal
