Sandy Gilbert is president of the local women's sorority that had the gazebo built more than 20 years ago as a near replica of a former structure that stood on the courthouse lawn in the late 1800s and early 1900s. She and others are organizing support to keep the gazebo after the current courthouse is razed and a new one built downtown. Architects have said there is no room for the gazebo to return, but Gilbert and others are not convinced.
"I am writing this to ask as many supporters of keeping the gazebo where it is to please try to attend a meeting to be held at the Ed-Tech building," Gilbert wrote in a post on social media this weekend. "The people behind taking down the courthouse and constructing a new building are supposed to meet with us. If you value the gazebo and the engraved bricks around it, we need your support."
According to the Project Development Board's agenda for Tuesday's meeting, it will render a decision tomorrow whether the gazebo is allowed to to return to the court square once a new justice center is built.
A recent Crittenden Press survey found that about 80 percent of those polled want the gazebo back on the courthouse lawn.
