Board endorses reconstruction plan after experts say Breckinridge law office cannot be moved

Botetourt County supervisors on Tuesday endorsed a plan to dismantle the deteriorated Breckinridge law office and Western Hotel, preserve historic materials, and construct two freestanding replica buildings on Courthouse Square after experts determined the original structures could not be safely relocated.

The board voted to endorse a set of conceptual agreements that would: build a one‑story replica of the late 18th‑/early 19th‑century law office (about 13 by 28 feet), construct a separate two‑story representation of the Western Hotel (about 13 by 30 feet), preserve and incorporate salvageable artifacts such as bricks and mantels into the new structures, and budget funds identified in the current courthouse contractor’s schedule of values to pay for design and construction. The board also authorized the county administrator to appoint an advisory committee to guide design and construction.

Why it matters: the law office is tied to James Breckinridge, a locally prominent early Virginia…