An extensive review of the physical condition of the buildings and grounds that make up the Mathews Court Green is now underway. Sponsored by Mathews Main Street, the $39,000 review is being funded by private donations and conducted by Mesick Cohen Wilson Baker Architects of Williamsburg.
Billing the review as “The Courthouse Square Restoration Project,” Main Street member Stan Grice said the project stems from a request he received as a founding member of the Mathews Gardening Group to take over maintenance of the rain gardens on the Court Green. He quickly discovered that broad swaths of the green were being eroded and topsoil was being washed away by stormwater flooding from Church and Court streets.
On top of that, with no gutters and downspouts on the historic buildings to direct rain runoff, water was causing trenching around the buildings and leaching into the foundations, and there were many areas of the brick walls that were missing mortar and needed repointing. One large sect...