Greene County certainly had a marquee year with a major project that was started in 2016 and more is expected here in 2017.

The Mahanay Bell Tower celebrated its 50th anniversary last year by getting the funding needed to make it a full four-octave carillon. Supervisor Chair John Muir says they were happy to help with the project as the Supervisors provided about $75,000 toward the almost $450,000 total for maintenance of the tower. He points out another milestone that the County will see in 2017.

“This year is the courthouse’s 100-year anniversary, which there’s already a lot of work going into that. We’re hoping to finish the stained glass dome and have that in good shape. And celebrate 100 years in one building that’s still used everyday by any citizen that needs to use it.”

He says there are other improvements the Supervisors would like to make to the courthouse such as the heating and cooling system and installing historically correct windows.

“At some point we will make a decision. The boiler system is a proven, over time, good system that works. The cooling, and it’s all cosmetic, but find a system that we didn’t have air-conditioners dripping out the windows. And with the kind of structure this is, it’s going to be kind of major to make it all fit in and work.”

However, Muir doesn’t believe that the courthouse is in dire straits, but he doesn’t want to wait to get to that point before they have to do something with the courthouse improvements.