Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

County roofing project underway

The Nevada County Courthouse is getting a new roof. According to information from the courthouse, workers got started preparing the roof for application of new rolled roofing from Firestone Building Products, Prescott facility.

Nevada County Judge James Roy Brown said the roofing project has been needed for some time, and that money from the Arkansas Legislature provided a good start toward the cost of the roofing.

Brown said the state provided two separate disbursements of $50,000 each.

But it wasnt enough until the Prescott Firestone facility stepped up and offered to provide the materials for the project at no charge, leaving the funds from the state available for other stages of the renovations planned for the courthouse.

At a meeting of the Nevada County Quorum Court during the summer, Brown said the project had changed with Firestones donation. Because the county no longer needed to pay for the roofing, they were able to expand the renovations to include some other needed repairs, including the installation of new water fountains and replacing some ceiling tiles that had been damaged by leaks in the roof.

According to Prescott Firestone Plant Manager Bill Smith, the donation is a way to stay involved with the community.

Contacted Friday morning about the project, Smith said Firestone is proud to have had the opportunity to be involved.

Firestone considers the community an important stakeholder and partner in its success, and wants to do everything it can to be a good corporate citizen, Smith said.

State Senator Percy Malone, at the time of the Firestone donation announcement, said theres a need to keep the downtowns vital, and that Prescotts courthouse is an important part of its downtown, and should be treated as such.

For the courthouse employees, the presence of workers on the roof Friday is a welcome signal that the days of a leaky roof may soon be over.