A few hundred people gathered around the steps of the Old Courthouse Saturday morning to celebrate the grand reopening of the Old Courthouse located downtown.
The ceremony featured emcee Carol Daniels who introduced the first speaker of the day, Jeremy Sweat, the superintendent of Gateway Park. The park services first proposed a bid for the renovations back in April 2022. The bid was accepted by corporate group Tarlton July 2022.
“In honoring this courthouse, we are not just preserving a building, we are honoring the memory of those who transformed it into a battleground for freedom and those who had the courage it took to get to this place.”
Dr. Twinette Johnson
“This project is too big to fail. It’s too big to fail for people of St Louis. This building is a symbol of our nation’s long struggle for freedom, equality and liberty,” Sweat said. “This project, at this moment, is also a symbol of hope here in downtown St Louis, as our community all around us works to build a brighter future for the city we all love, and we are proud to be here at the heart of that vision.”
The Old Courthouse was built between 1839 and 1862. It is where Dred and Harriet Scott fought for their freedom, and Virginia Minor fought for her right to vote. The historic building was renovated following the allocation of over $2.5 million in grant funding and $6 million that was used for the construction and the new exhibits.
“The National Park Service are the keepers of the places and memories that make our nation great… We are also the keepers of our nation’s sites of conscience, places where we fell short of the promise of liberty and justice for all,” Sweat said. “This project, at this moment, is also a symbol of hope here in downtown St Louis, as our community all around us works to build a brighter future for the city we all love, and we are proud to be here at the heart of that vision.”
Daniels then welcomed the keynote speaker, Dr. Twinette Johnson, dean of the Saint Louis University School of Law. She emphasized the importance of preserving the Old Courthouse.
“In honoring this courthouse, we are not just preserving a building, we are honoring the memory of those who transformed it into a battleground for freedom and those who had the courage it took to get to this place,” Johnson said.
After Johnson’s speech, the ribbon was cut by Lynne Jackson, the great-great-granddaughter of Dred and Harriet Scott, who was flanked by Sweat, Dr. Johnson, Gateway Arch Park Foundation Executive Director Ryan McClure, Congressman Wesley Bell, Mayor Cara Spencer and other community leaders. The doors to the new building opened.
The Old courthouse will serve as a museum and education center about the historic cases heard in the building. Exhibits include the Dred Scott case, as well as the first divorce filed by a woman in the courthouse. The renovations also include elevators and other modern electrical work.
But aside from the cosmetic renovations, Johnson said she looks forward to how the exhibits will educate generations of students and St. Louisans. She said the renovations and the building symbolize a path to change, to justice.
“These stories, the remarkable bravery of Dred Harriet Scott and the many men and women who filed freedom suits here at this courthouse remind us that the journey, that the journey to justice, is not always linear,” she said. “It can be a winding road filled with great foods and heartbreak, and in this journey for justice here in St Louis, each generation pushes forward with the hope that progress, however slow, is still possible.”