ALBERTVILLE, Ala. — Marshall County is starting to make some big changes to one of its courthouses. The historic building is in downtown Albertville and it hasn’t been upgraded in quite some time.

Marshall County has two county courthouses in Guntersville and  in downtown Albertville. The building in Albertville will be a focus over the next several months. “It’s an older building built in 1936, and to be honest with you, it hasn’t had any major attention for a number of years,” Marshall County Commission Chairman James Hutcheson says.

Along with the City of Albertville, Marshall County plans do major work on the outside of the building and the grounds. “The handicap ramp is built out of wood. We’re going to replace that with a concrete handicap ramp, remove a lot of the old trees, repaint the building, and basically give it just a new facelift,” Hutcheson explains. The county has already done a lot of work to the inside of the courthouse.

Work is already started. Officials are getting quotes for the ramp and other projects. “I’m going to do a good bit of work in-house, but some of the work we can’t. The handicap ramp needs professional concrete people to handle it,” Hutcheson explains.

Hutcheson says having county crews do a lot of the work will cut costs.

The goal is to restore the historic building to its former glory. “It’s due time,” Hutcheson says, “That building there is a beautiful building, but we’ve let it get run down some, and I think it’s time that we give it some tender loving care.”

The project is estimated to take between six to eight months to complete.