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Smaller courthouse plan moves forward

by | Mar 5, 2026

The Board of Supervisors voted to present a revised, smaller courthouse concept ("option 1") to the public for comment.

Next: Ask residents for input

The Rappahannock County Board of Supervisors (BOS) was presented with a new, smaller conceptual plan for a proposed new courthouse at its meeting Monday — a concept that would shave about $1.3 million off of construction costs. 

The board unanimously voted to present the revised concept to the community at a meeting on an upcoming Saturday, where people can see the design plans and ask questions. A date has yet to be set. 

Andrew Moore, an architect from Gláve and Holmes, the firm handling the project, presented two options for a smaller, two-story courthouse rather than a three-story concept presented to the board last May. Moore had presented these renderings to the supervisors in February, but did not have a cost estimate at the time. The revised concept is projected to cost $17.9 million to construct.

The concept the board ultimately voted to present to the public includes a portico at the front of the building and a cupola on the top — a slightly more costly option, but one that board members agreed is needed for the building’s “civic presence.”

“I just think that [option 1] fits in with the aesthetics of Washington,” Piedmont Supervisor Gary Settle said. “It matters what it looks like, and how it fits this community and Rappahannock County.”

Moore warned the board that projected construction costs have already risen over 2% since May and will continue to increase. County Administrator Garrey Curry reminded the board that it was estimated that each year the board puts off the construction, $790,000 would be added to the overall cost of construction. 

“I’ve said it in multiple meetings, the average cost of construction increases somewhere between 2.7 and 3% annually,” Jackson Supervisor Donna Comer said. “We’re not to May 2026 yet, and this price tag has already gone up 2.1%.”

Author

  • Ireland Hayes

    Ireland joined Foothills Forum as a full-time reporter in 2023 after graduating from the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication with a degree in journalism and minor in music. As a student, she gained valuable experience in reporter and editor positions at The Red & Black, an award-winning student newspaper, and contributed to Grady Newsource and the Athens Banner-Herald. She spent three years as an editorial assistant at Georgia Magazine, UGA’s quarterly alumni publication, and interned with The Bitter Southerner.
    Growing up in a small town in Southeast Georgia, Ireland developed a deep appreciation for rural communities and the unique stories they have to tell. She completed undergraduate research on news deserts, ghost papers and the ways rural communities in Georgia are being forced to adapt to a lack of local news. This research further sparked her interest in a career contributing to the preservation of local and rural news.
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By Ireland Hayes

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Ireland joined Foothills Forum as a full-time reporter in 2023 after graduating from the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication with a degree in journalism and minor in music. As a student, she gained valuable experience in reporter and editor positions at The Red & Black, an award-winning student newspaper, and contributed to Grady Newsource and the Athens Banner-Herald. She spent three years as an editorial assistant at Georgia Magazine, UGA’s quarterly alumni publication, and interned with The Bitter Southerner. Growing up in a small town in Southeast Georgia, Ireland developed a deep appreciation for rural communities and the unique stories they have to tell. She completed undergraduate research on news deserts, ghost papers and the ways rural communities in Georgia are being forced to adapt to a lack of local news. This research further sparked her interest in a career contributing to the preservation of local and rural news.