New plaza will add a soft, updated appeal to courthouse lawn
James Burkart's company has designed a functional, soft and beautiful plaza that will not only update the courthouse lawn area, but also make the turning radius for traffic much safer on the southeast corner of the main square in Historic Downtown Millersburg.
An iconic Holmes County site is about to take on a very new look as Historic Downtown Millersburg continues to renovate and grow as a tourist destination.
The lawn and monument area in front of the Holmes County Courthouse in Millersburg will soon begin to take on a more modern look as the Holmes County Commissioners and the Village of Millersburg invest in a project that, when it is completed, will take on a much more attractive appeal while at the same time becoming much more functional for traffic at the main square in HDM.
The goal the commissioners are pursuing is to create an attractive and inviting plaza where both visitors and locals will be able to gather. At the same time, one of the other major goals is to shave 8 feet off of the corner of the courthouse lawn so that truck traffic is more easily able to navigate the dangerous corner, which has been a major issue over the years.
In order to make the dream a reality, the commissioners hired James Burkart, president of Distinctive Landscape Architecture, to create a bold, new look for the courthouse lawn area.
Burkart, who has designed a number of high-profile projects along these lines, met with the commissioners and several other key county players on Thursday, June 7 to discuss the plans for the upcoming project. He shared his vision while inviting questions from those in attendance.
“My concept was that we would create a nice plaza at the corner as well as an additional plaza at the base of [the courthouse] so that we can have seating that will be in the shade as well as a major focal point out along the intersection of the two streets," Burkart said. “What we want to do is give the plaza some charm as opposed to the raw concrete we currently have.”
As for the thoroughfare that sees three state routes intersect, that particular corner has been a hazard for truck drivers and a safety concern for pedestrians for a long time. When the commissioners decided to invest in creating a new plaza at the courthouse, they felt it was good to pursue the idea of creating an easier and safer turning corner.
“The more we talked about it, the more we realized that it would be crazy not to move that corner back and make it safer,” Commissioner Joe Miller said.
Burkart said the travel issues surrounding the dangers of the southeast corner of the square are incredibly bad for a major intersection of three state routes. He noted that the widening and rounding of that corner should alleviate that issue, and he said lining the corner with trees will add to the soft allure of the plaza.
In addition the sidewalk going from the Monument for the Soldiers of Holmes County from the Revolutionary War is not currently aligned with the walk going into the commissioner’s office. Burkart said they aligned two sidewalks with a low planter in the middle of the sidewalks to add color and create a low seat wall for visitors to sit.
The plaza will feature a slight incline from Clay Street up to the monument, creating a wonderful space to create some attractive monumental steps to emphasize the monument. There will be additional lighting added to also enhance the monument.
Burkart also said they will remove the outdated brick walls in front of the commissioner’s office, which should add to the allure of the plaza.
“Instead of 10 feet of concrete that goes nowhere and the two ugly walls, we were able to create a planter, so when people walk up the steps, they have a soft landscape bed, and we got rid of a railing that was not in character with the rest of the building,” Burkart said.
The plans for the plaza include pre-cast concrete pavers for Clay Street up to the courthouse and circling around to the front side of the courthouse.
Along Clay and Jackson streets, the plan includes replacing all of the sidewalks and implementing higher curbs. Along Jackson Street there will be a boxwood hedge highlighted by Chinese Elms, a small tree.
One thing the commissioners were adamant about was leaving plenty of green space in the courtyard plaza, and the plan contains plenty of that.
“One of the things we wanted to make sure we did was to leave the green space in the courthouse lawn area so people can utilize it for activities because it does get used quite a bit,” Commissioner Rob Ault said.
As for furniture, the benches and chairs will be made of Brazilian hardwood called Ipe, a beautiful hardwood known for its long-lasting lifespan.
“It’s a beautiful hardwood that will provide durability,” Burkart said. He noted that in addition to the furniture, they will add a bicycle rack off to one side.
“We want this to be a community place for people to enjoy because in the end it is the community’s plaza,” Miller said. "We want local people to be able to come sit and relax and eat, and we want people driving through the area who see this look at it and say, ‘I want to stop there.’ It’s going to be a beautiful addition to the downtown area.”
Burkart said that with the plaza lined with ornamental grasses and perennials, it will be a soft, attractive look that is easy to maintain.
Tree City USA Millersburg Chapter will donate additional trees to the project. The seat wall will be created utilizing native Ohio limestone with a limestone seat cap that will help to make up the grade change.
The Village of Millersburg is joining the commissioners and will cover the cost of the utility work that has to be done during the renovation process for adjusting the corner.
The commissioners said they have had numerous people express concerns over how the plaza project will be paid for. The project is expected to cost approximately $598,000, and Ault said the funding will not affect the general fund at all, noting that it will come from state casino money that will be designated for the project. In addition the Village of Millersburg is committing some finances to the project.
“It’s definitely a partnership,” Ault said of the effort to fund the project. “A lot of what we are changing needed replaced anyway because it was becoming dangerous, and I think this is a nice concept that will be beautiful and will benefit the county nicely.”
The next stage of the process will be to bid the project out to contractors, and the hope is that the plaza will be finished some time this fall, although the commissioners have not set an absolute date for completion.
“It’s not something we have to start tomorrow, so we will take our time and do it right,” Miller said.
Burkart said there will be a pre-bid meeting in the near future to provide contractors with an opportunity to ask questions and raise issues that maybe have been overlooked.
“We want to sit down with all of the contractors at the meeting and be up front with them in letting them know that we would like to have this project done by the fall, but if it is advantageous for us to wait in order to get costs down, we will do that,” Burkart said. “Once we start this, we want our contractor’s full and undivided attention.”
Burkart added that the work on the intersection will take place before 6 a.m. and after 7 p.m. to keep traffic flowing during the day.
Sealed proposals for the Holmes County Court House Square improvements will be received by the Holmes County Commissioners at their office at 2 Court St., Millersburg, OH 44654, until 10:30 a.m. on Monday, July 9. A mandatory pre-bid meeting will be held at the Holmes County Commissioners Office on Monday, June 25 at 9 a.m.
“Historic Downtown Millersburg has been working very hard to revitalize the village, and I think this is a great project that will really be a jewel and a reason for people to come to Millersburg,” said Arnie Oliver, Holmes County planning commissioner.