The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1919-01-23
The New Court House.

The County Board has taken an ex.
cellent start ON the path to get real
county center for the county. 1t has
paved the way for the buying a site
which could not be improved upon.
OF course there are few people in the
county who do not believe that Ke-
nosha needs court house. For the
most part they are Of the class who
believe that they do not need a new
pair Of pants SO long as the old ones
could be patched. Their thrift is com
-nendabIe but their ideas are of the
vintage of a good many years ago
when men failed to believe that pro-
gressiye units Of government should
have progressive equipment.
Among men who believe that Keno
sha county needs new court house
the almost unanimous idea is that the
county board has acted wisely in the
selection Of the site for it.
Getting a site that is well located
and well adapted for court house
is long ways toward making the pro-
iect success but there is still lot
Of work to be done.
The members Of the present county
board will remain in Office long enough
to complete this work. 1t is to be hop
ed that they will go to it with the idea
of leaving the court house as a monu-
ment to their administration rather
than using it as a means for continuing
Them in office.
The complete elimination of the
selfish ideas of the members Of the
board is the one thing necessary to
have Kenosha county get a court house
such as she should have for her bright
future and for the money she has to
spend for it.
A larger vision than has been taken
in a lot Of public movements in Ke-
nosha is necessary to get this result
History shows that county builds a
court house about once every thirty
five or forty years. In other words the
court house that is now being built
will not become out of date and in
sufficient until 1858 if the members
Of the county board have this larger
vision.
The saving Of a few dollars on the
building is not important. The import
ant thing is to get the kind Of court
house that the boys of this generation
will not be ashamed of when they get
to the place where they are members
of the county board and hold county
Offices.
1t is admitted by most of the mem
bers of the board that they do not know
Just what Kenosha county should have
in the way Of a court house. If this
is true these men should go to some
real counties and find out what these
countieq Lave done. Few counties in
Wisconsin would be suitable for the
destination of this junketing COM
mittee. Let them go to places which
now have population of more than
q hundred thousand people. The new
court house is to be used by county
with population of at least a hum
dred and twenty thousand people and
it is going to be difficult to decide
just what is necessary if we apply the
rule of fifty thousand county. A
little time given to visiting if
they want to let them take the whole
hoard - would be very proftably spent.
When a motor car factory starts to
make new product it spends the
cost of many of them in experimenting
Tt is fair to say that the county board
should expend few dollars in finding
out just what it wants or at least what
a county with the future of Kenosha
ought to have.
There will be plenty of architects
to present good looking sketches and
catchy sketches but the real thing
in court house is not only the way it
looks outside but what there is in
side.
AS we only build court house once
in forty years it might be well to go
at it intelligently and with the wide
vision that will make the completed
work worth while.