If a courthouse is a building that houses courts, then Delaware County, Indiana, burned through three of them in thirty years. Changes like that were typical of the pioneer days, but the oldest, the Delaware County Building, was built in 1969! The next one, the Delaware County Justice Center, opened in 1992. The newest, the Delaware County Justice and Rehabilitation Center, came online in 2021. This is crazy!
Listen to me, child- things weren’t always this way. Delaware County’s first courthouse was built in 1829. Measuring 20 by 40 feet, the two-story frame structure featured a gable roof that faced the street1. The first floor held two courtrooms, while the second was reserved for offices. The second courthouse came in 1837. Designed by Morgan John, the forty-five-foot square building featured a hipped roof and cupola2. Eleven years later, a two-story brick county office building was erected just north of the structure3.
The county’s third courthouse was designed by Fort Wayne architect Brentwood Tolan. Completed in 1887, the Beaux Arts landmark rose 165 feet into the air4 as a near twin of Tolan’s Kosciusko County Courthouse in Warsaw. As majestic as it was upon its completion, time was not kind to the third courthouse. It was demolished in 1965 after years of abuse and deferred maintenance.
The Delaware County Building -a functional structure with narrow windows and a cantilevered east wing- was completed four years later. Although it was designed to be expanded, it only served as a courthouse for twenty-three years. Its replacement, the Delaware County Justice Center, was so disturbingly onerous that after years of delays, $6 million in cost overruns, and 526 change orders, two judges hated it so much that they refused to set foot in it5.
Although it was built in response to a lawsuit that alleged the county jail was too small, the justice center also proved too tiny! State officials got involved, and commissioners plunked down $3 million to purchase a new one. After $45 million of renovations6, Muncie’s old Wilson Middle School now serves as the Delaware County Justice and Rehabilitation Center, the sixth courthouse.
Muncie was booming in the period after World War II. Factories around the city cranked out mason jars, automotive transmissions, galvanized steel, and a whole lot more. The school system expanded to accommodate the prosperity, but things fell back to earth in the 1970s and 80s. By 1988, the city was down to two middle schools, Northside and Wilson.
Although Northside was modern, Wilson was a three-story classical revival structure originally built in 19217. In the early 90s, school officials made plans to build a replacement at the corner of 26th Street and Tillotson Avenue- a location criticized by many as being too far from the center of its district8. Nevertheless, ground was broken on January 7, 1993, and the building was completed in 1995 for $22 million.
“New” Wilson was everything “Old” Wilson wasn’t. Namely, it was modern! The building’s wings radiated outward in the shape of an H from a core that featured two gymnasiums, a large media center, and a two-story entrance atrium. A 630-seat auditorium comprised the school’s northeastern corner, and a six-lane natatorium stood to the southeast9.
Unfortuantely, Wilson was closed in 2014 in response to declining enrollments. A year later, the building was sold to a local property management company for $2.3 million. Officials hoped it would become the headquarters for expanded operations10, but the enterprise failed catastrophically11. County commissioners snapped the building up for $2.9 million in 2018.
The decision to convert the former middle school to a new jail and courthouse was met with mixed feelings. Many decried the move of the courts from downtown, fearing the economic impact the relocation would have on Muncie’s business district12. Some wanted the 1992 justice center expanded, while others thought the jail should be moved to an industrial shell building further south of town. In the end, the government won out.
I’ve never been inside the Delaware County Justice and Rehabilitation Center, but I played basketball and academic bowl when it was Wilson. It’s ironic and unfortunate that some of the bullies I encountered during those days who thought mandatory school attendance felt like a jail sentence have been forced to spend time there years after they graduated! Inmates moved from the old justice center to the new facility in February 2021. The county clerk’s office relocated a week later.
Today, the Delaware County Justice and Rehabilitation Center looks much the same as it did during its time as Wilson Middle School aside from a new wing that houses high-security prisoners. Unlike previous Delaware County jails, the new facilities are finally large enough to have room to spare! Early on, officials contemplated using the space to house inmates from other counties.
I hope the building’s capacity means officials won’t have to buy a 500,000-square-foot shell building in another twenty years. For now, I’m glad that Delaware County’s manic courthouse spree is done. I don’t think the terms “justice center” and “courthouse” are synonymous, but courts are now housed in the old “New” Wilson Middle School. In my mind, that makes it a courthouse.
Today, some local offices remain downtown in the 1969 County Building. It’s hard to believe, but the 1992 Justice Center is being turned into condominiums! If anything, Delaware County provides an intriguing mirror of the circumstances many early communities found themselves in as they hopped rapidly from courthouse to courthouse.
TL;DR
Delaware County (pop. 117,671, 14/92)
Muncie (pop. 70.085).
Built: 1995 and 2021
Cost: $45 million (estimated)
Architect: Fanning-Howey Associates (1995); RQAW (2015)
Style: Modern
Courthouse Square: Campus
Height: 3 stories
Current use: Courts and some county offices
Photographed: 7/18/16 and 1/1/21.
Sources Cited
1 Helm, Thomas B. “History of Delaware County, Indiana” Kingman Bros. [Chicago]. 1881. Print.
2 Kemper, General William Harrison. “A Twentieth Century History of Delaware County, Indiana, Volume 1. Lewis Publishing Company [Chicago]. 1908. Print.
3 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map- Muncie, Indiana. 1883. Sanborn Fire Insurance Company. Library of Congress. Web. Retrieved 2/14/21.
4 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map- Muncie, Indiana. 1887. Sanborn Fire Insurance Company. Library of Congress. Web. Retrieved 2/14/21.
5 “Justice” The Muncie Star [Muncie] April 19, 1992: 14. Print.
6 Ohlenkamp, C. (2018, June 27). Crowded system could see change. The Muncie Star Press. p. 1.
7 Davies, Tom. “Wilson Middle School Fate Rests on Thrust of Program” The Muncie Star [Muncie]. August 4, 1991. 12. Print.
8 Davies, Tom. “Muncie Schools asks for jury to set value of site” The Muncie Star [Muncie]. July 31, 1992. Print.
9 Rendfeld, Kim Zollman. “Mid-year move?” The Muncie Star [Muncie]. February 8, 1995. 1. Print.
10 Shuey, Mickey. “ASONS adding 300 jobs, getting new Muncie headquarters” The Star Press [Muncie]. April 10, 2015. A1. Print.
11 Roysdon, Keith. “ASONS asked workers to name their pay cuts” The Star Press [Muncie]. May 12, 2016. A1. Print.
12 Burayidi, M. (2018, March 18). Delaware County jail should not move from downtown. The Muncie Star Press. p. B1.
