The Columbia County Courthouse
A Project that Changed Dayton
This is a letter to the editor, which means that it's really a letter to myself. Normally, I'm sure no one would care to hear what I say to myself, but in this case it's something that others might find interesting. So I'll proceed.
My father, Bill Graham, is running for re-election as Dayton's mayor, and I want to briefly revisit something very important that he did for Dayton a few years ago. It's something that he deserves to be proud of – and I'm proud of him for it. Just remember that this is me, talking about my father, so please take what I say with as many grains of salt as you wish.
Dad moved to Dayton in August of 1982 as the new pastor of the Congregational Church. In the spring of 1983, a town meeting was held – the first one that addressed revitalization in Dayton. That meeting spawned a number of amazing projects that changed the history of our town. These included: building Flour Mill Park; the reconstruction of Main Street, including planting trees; and the one I'm going to talk about – the restoration of the Columbia County Courthouse.
During that 1983 meeting, Bill Graham stood up and naively said something like "why don't we fix up our run-down old courthouse." Many others at the meeting were skeptical, to say the least. "Who's going to be in charge of that impossible project?" they asked. "You?" Dad agreed to be chairman of the courthouse restoration committee that night.
Committee members began pondering how to come up with the huge amount of money that would be needed to do the job right. Fund raising began in earnest in 1985, and by 1990 upwards of $2 million had been raised. Contributions were received from state and federal agencies and several corporations. To me, the most amazing statistic is that around $350,000 came from private donations within Columbia County.
Dad gives much of the credit for fund raising to his steering committee, which included Bill Broughton, Ginny Butler, Stan Goodell, Rod Howley, Terry Nealey, Faye Rainwater and Elizabeth Thorn. And many other volunteers donated countless hours of their time. But he led that group and held it together for ten years. The reconstruction work began in 1990 and was completed in 1993. There were many difficult times, including the dismissal of two architectural firms. But Dad had built a great team and we all now get to enjoy the wonderful results of their huge efforts.
In 1999, Dad was elected Mayor of Dayton. He inherited a City Hall that could charitably be called dysfunctional. But again he assembled a good team and led it well, and slowly the mess was cleaned up. Now most people would say that City Hall functions very well.
Dayton is fortunate to have two candidates for Mayor who are both very able and care deeply about the city. I'm sure Dayton will prosper for the next four years under the leadership of whichever candidate is elected. I'm the current Mayor's son and I'm biased. And besides that, I can't vote since I live out of town. But I think the man who has served Dayton so well for the past 25 years is the best person to serve it for four more.
Today, as you drive along Main Street, you often see visitors photographing the beautifully restored Columbia County Courthouse. It's something we can all rightly be proud of. If it weren't for the vision and hard work of a new minister in town, and now our Mayor for the past eight years, we might not now be enjoying this beautiful landmark and symbol of Dayton.
- Ken Graham
Copyright (c) 2007, Blue Mountain News