By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Gail Perkins has no doubt her late husband, Alvie, was planning ahead when he sketched out the atrium design for the Wood County Courthouse Complex.
“That’s why he put in the skylights, so he could look down and see what’s going on,” she said, pointing up to the glass sections.
And she knows Alvie would have been so proud to have the atrium dedicated in his honor Wednesday morning during the annual State of the County address.
As the longest serving county commissioner in Wood County history, Perkins would often talk about the atrium at home, his wife said. That and roadwork, and pump stations and flooding ditches after heavy rains.
“Our evenings out were to drive around looking at the ditches,” Gail Perkins recalled, smiling.
Such is the life of a public servant and his spouse.
As the atrium was officially dedicated in his honor, Commissioner Doris Herringshaw referred to Alvie Perkins as a “forefather,” serving 25 years as commissioner and passing away in January.
“We believe it’s appropriate to name this atrium for him,” she said.
The stories vary a bit, but no one disputes the fact that Perkins came up with the idea for the enclosed atrium that links the courthouse, county office building and old jail which is currently the law library and records center.
Wood County Administrator Andrew Kalmar tells it this way. “He sketched it on the back of something he pulled from the recycling bin.” And from there the plans progressed.
The atrium solved several problems. It allowed for better courthouse security, made it possible for people to walk between the buildings without being exposed to the weather, and provided space for employees and citizens to meet.
“It’s a year-round useable space,” Kalmar said.
Wood County Juvenile Court Judge Dave Woessner recalls it this way. “I vividly remember. He drew a diagram on a napkin. He had it in his pocket, and he would proudly show it to people.”
Regardless of the paper, the idea was indisputably Alvie’s.
“He started the whole thing,” retired Commissioner Jim Carter said.
Prior to the atrium, the walkway between the courthouse and county office building was often frozen in the winter and a wind tunnel any time of year.
But now the area is a showcase. The commissioners paid great attention to detail, even going as far as getting stone for the project from the same quarry that supplied stone for the old jail, Carter said.
“It’s a gathering point,” Woessner said. “People are very, very impressed with this complex and how it’s been preserved. And this atrium is a big part of that.”
