Grand Traverse County Courthouse is listed on the Michigan Register of Historic Sites. The aging building was deteriorating and inefficiently used when the County was faced with the choice of destroying the old building or rehabilitating the existing structure. The County chose to conserve the building with widely acclaimed results. The
conservation program for Grand Traverse County Courthouse included the restoration of the exterior including lost ornament and the renovation of interior space complete with the new environmental systems. Extensive research of the County’s historic documents, preparation of a comprehensive structural survey and the review of planning requirements for a modern justice facility was completed before the design work began. This additional research assured a design that was both responsive to function and sympathetic to the history and character of the original structure.
The National Association of Counties awarded the project a National Achievement Award of Excellence.
