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 political and legal figure. Preservation advocates argued for moving the original building; engineers and brick specialists concluded the brick fabric is too unstable to relocate intact. County staff said delaying the courthouse project to continue relocation efforts would add roughly $110,000 per month to project costs.

Public comment framed the local significance. Ed Holt, president of the Botetourt County Historical Society, told the board the law office “has meant to Botetourt in particular in Virginia and the nation in general,” and urged supervisors to honor Breckinridge’s legacy. Betty Holt, regent of the county Daughters of the American Revolution, asked the board to preserve as many bricks as possible and “build a Williamsburg‑style reproduction” at the relocation site. Patsy Dickerson of Historic Fincastle said a follow‑up committee of historians, brick specialists and contractors recommended dismantling the building and storing historic elements for reuse.

County staff summarized meetings held with historical organizations, engineers and the moving contractor. The staff memo presented a timeline that prioritized obtaining a demolition permit from the town of Fincastle by Aug. 1 to avoid costly courthouse delays; staff noted the permit is required to keep the contractor on schedule. The agenda item asked the board to authorize staff, in consultation with the county attorney, to pursue the recommended steps and to have the county administrator appoint an advisory committee composed of two supervisors, a Town of Fincastle representative, two members of county historical organizations and one at‑large citizen.

Supervisors said the committee's role would include advising whether to run utilities to the reconstructed law office (options ranged from no utilities to minimal power for artifact lighting and maintenance) and whether the hotel‑style building should be eligible for future commercial use. Rich Evans, the county capital projects manager, attended the meeting and has been managing the courthouse project day‑to‑day.

Two motions were passed: one endorsing the conceptual agreements and authorizing staff to act to implement them (with priority given to obtaining the demolition permit), and a second directing the county administrator to appoint the advisory committee. Both motions carried without recorded opposition.

What remains: the county will apply to the Fincastle planning commission for a demolition permit; staff said the reconstructed buildings would be designed under a separate design and construction contract and, where practical, scheduled to begin when courthouse construction concludes. The project budget will use money identified in the courthouse contractor’s schedule of work; the exact cost of reconstruction will be determined through a future design and bidding process.

The board’s action preserves the county’s goal of commemorating the site while accepting the technical finding that the original brick structures cannot be moved intact.