HARTINGTON — County residents will get to see the finished product when the Cedar County Courthouse hosts a grand-opening ceremony Friday.
The final touches are now being put in place for the nearly $2.9 million renovation project at the Cedar County Courthouse.
Gov. Dave Heineman will be on hand for a ribbon cutting and dedication ceremony for the Cedar County Courthouse on Friday, Nov. 20 at 4 p.m. The event will also help kick off Hartington’s Candlelight Christmas celebration.
The guaranteed maximum price or GMP for the Courthouse Complex, which included a new annex and renovating the two existing buildings, was originally set at $2,609,000, according to Cedar County Clerk Dave Dowling.

“Some changes were made — that amount has gone over by approximately $100,000,” Dowling said.
The Courthouse, which was built for just under $20,000 in 1891, has been expanded to make it more secure and to bring it into compliance with federal handicap accessibility standards.
The first floor of the original Courthouse will be used for the County Court offices, the County Attorney and the Probation Officer, along with a County Courtroom.
The District Court offices and a District Courtroom will occupy the entire second floor.
The basement will be used for a law library and storage.
An elevator, which gives handicap accessibility to all levels of the building, is located in the main entrance between the annex and the Courthouse. It occupies part of the old county assessor and county attorney offices.
The original outside archway on the north entrance to the Courthouse was incorporated into the interior of what is now the main entrance to the judicial complex.
“The State Historical Society sent representatives out. They required us to keep the archway,” said Dowling. “We built around it and kept it.”
Some restoration work was also done on the stained glass windows located behind the judge’s bench on the second floor.
Adam Koch, Wynot, re-leaded the windows and replaced broken panes.
Much of the original wood wainscoting and an arch that was in the courtroom on the second floor were retained.
“The arch was moved to the first floor and is now in the County Courtroom,” said Clerk of District Court Janet Wiechelman.
The 12 original juror chairs were refinished and have been kept in the courtroom on the second floor.
“The chairs previously had a pedestal under them — legs have been added to each of the chairs,” said Wiechelman. “Jerome Uhing made a 13th chair that matches and it will be used for the alternate juror.”
Security for the two courtrooms was a major focus during the remodeling.
Business in the county and district court offices, along with the county attorney’s office, will now be transacted through bullet-proof glass, with a small letter-size passageway for paperwork.
Bullet-proof glass will also protect the judge’s benches in both courtrooms.
The Courthouse now has a special designated passageway between the Sheriff’s Office and the courtrooms.
“The prisoners will not come in contact with the general population doing business in the Courthouse,” said Dowling.
The County Court and District Court offices, which had moved out of the Courthouse temporarily, will be making the move back into the building this week.
The County Attorney’s office, which had been moved across the street to the former Bill Yates Insurance office, will also be moving back into the building.
The work on the Courthouse Complex has moved along on schedule as the total project was expected to be done in November.
“It is an old building. Everything went well when the remodeling was being done. There were no surprises,” said Dowling.
The Assessor, Clerk, Treasurer and County Commission offices, which had been located on the first floor of the original courthouse, moved into the new addition during the first stage of the renovation project.
The Weed Superintendent, Zoning Administrator and Road Department have a new location in the old living quarters of the Sheriff’s Office. The Extension Service is now in the basement of the annex.
The Veterans’ Service Office will have an office in one of the rooms that had previously been used by the Extension Service.
The Sheriff’s Department, jail and 911 Center are the only county offices that did not move to a new location. Their office space was expanded into the former County Extension office, though.