Revolving door at Butte courthouse to receive facelift

This article originally appeared on NBC Montana at the following link: https://nbcmontana.com/news/local/revolving-door-at-butte-courthouse-to-receive-facelift.

BUTTE, Mont. — In Butte, the local government has received a funding assist to restore the historic revolving door at the courthouse.

The Foundation for Montana History is providing $10,000 to Butte-Silver Bow to fix the copper plated revolving door. The door was manufactured by Atchison Revolving Door Company in 1912 but has been closed for public use since at least 1990 due to deterioration.

The project has a total expected cost of $50,000, and a consultant will be coming to Butte later this month to get a full picture on what needs to be done.

Funding for the revolving door restoration has also come from individual donations and Butte’s government buildings department.

The door is expected to be repaired later this year by a craftsman, the same person who is also serving as the consultant and could be back in service by the end of the summer.

“It needs a good cleaning. There’s lots of dents in it. It needs to be taken apart and put back together, essentially. The copper needs to be polished. We think it’s gonna be shiny like a new penny,” said Butte-Silver Bow historic preservation officer Kate McCourt.

This is the only revolving door in Butte. The Hennessy building previously had one, but it has since been removed.

Other grants awarded in southwest Montana by the Foundation for Montana History include:

• $10,000 for the hiring of three historians and an editor to create new content for the Story of Butte app and website

• $5,900 to the Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives to provide exhibitions, tours and the historic booklets of four Butte cemeteries

• $10,000 to Friends of the Dillon Public Library restore three historic windows at the Carnegie Library