A deadly and destructive EF-4 tornado swept through western Kentucky just over two years ago, killing 24 people in Mayfield and Graves County, injuring dozens more and damaging thousands of structures – including the county courthouse.
More than 200 people stood in the Mayfield town square Monday afternoon, where officials broke ground on a new courthouse in the heart of the Graves County community.
Speakers during the ceremony reflected on the former courthouse, built in the late 1880s, as a place where important things happened and where Graves County came together before the storm and the building’s demolition in 2022.
Retired Graves County educator Susan Higdon, who emceed the event, fondly recalled walking the square with her mother and participating in an all-night Bible reading on the courthouse’s front steps in the early 1970s.
“A group of youth from Graves County, we stayed out there all night and read the New Testament from the top to the bottom and took time reading out loud, and I remember that like it was yesterday,” Higdon said. “I remember getting my driver's license [there], my marriage license, registering the date when we built our first house, paying property taxes … I served on a grand jury. And my last job that brought me in there was I was a poll worker for a lot of years after I retired.”
Gregory Willett is a Graves County native and a design coordinator at the Lexington-based architecture design firm Brandstetter Carroll, one of five engineering, architecture and construction companies contracted by the county. Riley Architect Services, Codell, Bacon Farmer Workman and Marcum Engineering are also under contract for the design and build.
Willett said the design of the new courthouse will not attempt to recapture the look of the one severely damaged in the storm, but that it will create “a beacon of hope that will glow in the center” of the county.
“That courthouse was something of its era, of its time, something built out of the construction practices, the craftsmanship, the design standards of that era,” he said. “This also became our approach for the new Graves County courthouse. From the beginning, we have sought to ensure that this building is a product of its time, that it reflects the goals and the dreams of the people who are creating it, and that it becomes a home to those who will inhabit it for years to come.”
Willett said the new courthouse and administrative building will employ a contemporary design aesthetic – featuring glass and metal surfaces, brick and limestone details, a stately portico and atrium and windows that bring natural light into its interiors – across a spacious footprint that can accommodate open workspaces.
Graves County Judge-Executive Jesse Perry said that the new courthouse will cost $17 million to build, with much of the funding coming from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and from county property insurance claims in the wake of the storm.
Perry described the courthouse as essential to the future of the far western Kentucky community.
“We are planting the seed for many generations, and there's only one way that this works: That's for us to put God first and for us to come together and trust in him,” Perry said. “This building is a lighthouse for our community. Someday, and it may be many generations, we'll see our community come back.”
The judge-executive said that he hopes construction on the new courthouse can begin later in December, but that the project will likely take years to finish. A rendering of the new courthouse was unveiled at the end of the proceedings Monday.
Kentucky State Rep. Richard Heath – who represents Mayfield and Graves County – also spoke at the groundbreaking, remarking that the ceremony symbolizes “the resilience and determination of [the] community and Commonwealth” in the aftermath of a tornado outbreak that impacted more than a dozen counties.
“In the wake of our grief, we forged the plan to recover as much as we could of what we lost. We held ourselves together with two simple words: Mayfield Strong,” Heath said. “Each shovel full of dirt marks a significant step towards our efforts to rise from the rubble. Every inch of concrete, iron and rock, a testament to our community strength. As construction progresses, the new courthouse will not only serve as the heart of our community, but also a symbol of hope and renewal. It will embody our community's ability to overcome adversity, rebuild shattered foundations and emerge stronger than ever. After all, we're not only building back, but creating a legacy of survival for future generations.”
