Be sure to stop by the square after sunset to see the new lights that now illuminate the Old Blanco County Courthouse grounds.  The twelve-foot cast aluminum poles light thirty-foot areas using 60 watt LED bulbs that are night-sky compliant.  The lights were installed in early April, nearly wrapping up the landscaping master plan for the Old Blanco County Courthouse Preservation Society.

The landscaping plan was started in 2002 and 2003 with the design and installation of the curbs and sidewalks, said Bob Boydston, who was landscaping chair at the time.  In January 2010, the society began work on the rest of the grounds, with Dirt Works moving dirt and regrading the lawn.  Johnson City’s Britt Odiorne installed a sprinkler system, and volunteers with OBCCPS sodded the lawn.  At the time, Boydston said, Blanco Heating and Cooling installed electrical wiringproviding electrical hookups for market days vendors and preparing for the light poles.

A major change involved removing the ramp on the west side of the building and creating a natural handicap entrance using the slope of the ground up to the doorway.

Before the lights were installed, PEC moved two street lights off the courthouse block and the street, allowing the society’s new lights to illuminate the sidewalks, stairs, and grounds.

The landscaping master plan, designed by San Antonio’s Walter Heard, is nearing its conclusion.  The society has small things yet to do, including more landscaping around the perimeter of the building and planting new trees on the grounds.

All the landscaping work is financed by donations to OBCCPS, Boydston points out.  A grant from LCRA assisted with the lighting purchase.