Mayor Bill Ketron Accepts 2022 Downtown Design Award for Courthouse Renovations on Behalf of the County

On Tuesday, February 15th, the 37th Annual Meeting for Main Street Murfreesboro was held at the Walnut House downtown. Main Street Murfreesboro, a non-profit organization, works to promote, maintain, and enhance the downtown area of our community. Time is taken at this meeting to recognize businesses and members of the community for their work in the downtown area.

This year, nominations of buildings in the downtown area were reviewed and scored by the Main Street Design Committee for the award of Downtown Design. Mayor Bill Ketron had the honor of accepting one of three of these awards on behalf of the County for renovations completed in 2021 to the 162-year-old Rutherford County Historic Courthouse.

Since 2020, many improvements have been made to the exterior and interior including but not limited to:

• New sidewalks
• New Landscaping
• Addition of LED Lighting
• External Sound System
• Copula Washed and Painted
• Benches Refurbished and Repainted
• New Carpet and Wallpaper

Mayor Bill Ketron states, “I accepted the Main Street Design Award on behalf of our County Commission and the Citizens of Rutherford County. We are honored to be recognized.”

In addition to the renovations, November 2021 saw the opening of a museum inside the historic courthouse with the help of Dr. Carroll Van West, Middle Tennessee State University professor and Director of its Center for Historic Preservation, along with Rutherford County Archivist John Lodl. The museum contains many rooms filled with artifacts depicting the history of Rutherford County.

“I have always loved history, to see a historical building such as our courthouse. It is a building that should be preserved at all costs.” Says Mayor Bill Ketron. “This working courthouse with the museum can tell our story, the story of where Rutherford County came from, so we can honor its past.”

You can learn more about the Main Street organization and their calendar of events at mainstreetmurfreesboro.com, and more about the Rutherford County historic courthouse at rutherfordcountytn.gov.