http://highhopesgardens.com/blog/2007/08/13/august-13-2007-restored-marshall-county-courthouse/ Can a creative, hard-working family make a living working with nature? Join us on the journey from idea to practice as we revive an Iowa farmstead Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:01:38 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 http://highhopesgardens.com/blog/2007/08/13/august-13-2007-restored-marshall-county-courthouse/comment-page-1/#comment-2322 Sombrero Peak Thu, 16 Aug 2007 03:13:03 +0000 http://highhopesgardens.com/blog/2007/08/13/august-13-2007-restored-marshall-county-courthouse/#comment-2322 The proposed new courthouse would have been built right next to Main Street, with little or no lawn and a huge parking lot in back. In retrospect, it would have been a blight on Marshalltown's downtown area. But in 1975, I supported construction of a new courthouse. Back then, the existing building was in horrible disrepair and hardly seemed worth saving. I thought that a low, sleek, glassy building with asbestos popcorn ceilings would demonstrate that Marshalltown was a progressive, forward-looking community. Also, the Friends of the Courthouse were a bunch of prissy housewives who looked like Phyllis Schlafly. I wanted nothing to do with them. Fortunately, I was too young to vote, and wiser heads prevailed. The proposed new courthouse would have been built right next to Main Street, with little or no lawn and a huge parking lot in back. In retrospect, it would have been a blight on Marshalltown’s downtown area. But in 1975, I supported construction of a new courthouse. Back then, the existing building was in horrible disrepair and hardly seemed worth saving. I thought that a low, sleek, glassy building with asbestos popcorn ceilings would demonstrate that Marshalltown was a progressive, forward-looking community. Also, the Friends of the Courthouse were a bunch of prissy housewives who looked like Phyllis Schlafly. I wanted nothing to do with them. Fortunately, I was too young to vote, and wiser heads prevailed.

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