Government

Courthouse Green Master Plan Project

At its meeting on Aug. 15, 2023, the Board of Supervisors unanimously accepted the “Clarke County Courthouse Green Master Plan Final Report” prepared by Rhodeside & Harwell Inc. (RHI), a landscape and design firm that specializes in public spaces. Supervisors then directed county staff to develop a scope of services for a more detailed schematic design.

Find links to all documents, including illustrated concepts, at the bottom of this page. More information is available on the Monument Committee page.

Background: In March 2021, citizens who served on the Monument Committee determined that the courthouse complex, which includes a Confederate monument, needed further consideration. The Committee recommended to the Board of Supervisors that the space be dedicated to both memorials and education, including contextual signage.

Committee members had been appointed in November 2020 and tasked with finding community consensus regarding the monument, which was erected near the courthouse in 1900. Based on the Committee’s suggestions, the Supervisors approved hiring a consultant capable of developing a master plan for the entire “courthouse green.”

The “courthouse green” is a 2.3-acre property on North Church Street in Berryville — the county seat — that includes Circuit Court, General District Court, and the Clarke County Sheriff’s Office.

Clarke County advertised a request for proposals in 2021 and awarded the contract to Rhodeside & Harwell (RHI), a landscape architecture and planning firm based in Alexandria, Va. Its planning process included four phases: discovery, alternatives development, draft master plan, and final master plan. The discovery phase began in early April 2022. RHI developed two or three concepts for the courthouse green and presented its ideas to the public during open house events.

At the first public feedback session in July 2022, RHI presented three alternative designs for the Courthouse Green. In addition to public comments during that presentation, comments were accepted via email. Using that feedback, Rhodeside & Harwell presented a revised Courthouse Green Master Plan in November 2022. Comments received in November were taken into account when RHI finalized its design, which it presented in early 2023.

Note: This page will be updated throughout the Courthouse Master Plan Project. Public meetings will be posted on the county calendar.