FAIRBURN, Ga. — Boarded up and in disrepair: There is a push in Fairburn to restore a historic courthouse that caught fire. It’s been sitting for four years now and neighbors are growing frustrated.
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“I was actually at work in town, so my texts started blowing up, people saying, ‘Hey, the courthouse is on fire’,” remembers Lee Walton about the day of the fire at the Old Campbell Historic Courthouse, which sits across from his house. It was four years ago, and still, it sits with no work done to restore it.
“It is frustrating to see the boarded-up windows for sure,” said Walton.
The old courthouse is more than 150 years old, and its history that the Old Campbell County Historical Society says must be saved.
“It’s one of the last remaining, I guess, government buildings that was part of Campbell County, Georgia,” said Old Campbell County Historical Society president Lila Hargis Rhyne. “It was obviously the government for the city. And also, it remained there until the merger with Fulton County in 1932.”
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Rhyne shared old pictures of the courthouse’s Greek revival architecture. But since that fire in September of 2022, there have been meetings with the city with ideas thrown around on how to save the building.
“You can always take out the second floor, make it a concert hall,” said Rhyne. “It could become offices or something, a restaurant.”
But the ideas haven’t materialized, frustrating the people who live nearby and see it each day.
Channel 2 Action News reached out to the City of Fairburn; there are talks in progress with the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation. A city spokesperson said in part, “No formal partnership or agreement has been finalized. The City is evaluating opportunities that could support its preservation and appropriate future use.”
It’s hope for some who are trying to be patient with the process.
“I would very much like to see renovation have occurred faster, but my perspective is more about getting it done right,” said Walton.
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