Napa historical courthouse opens for the first time since 2014 earthquake

NAPA, Calif. (KGO) -- Napa's 140-year-old historical courthouse opened Monday for the first time since the 2014 earthquake.

"I think everybody is just relieved. If you saw court users coming in through security today there were a lot of smiles. People are really excited to be back in this amazing facility that dates back to the 1870s," said the court executive officer Bob Fleshman.

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The building suffered extensive damage.

"There were cracks in the ceilings and parts of the building were falling off. And it took a lot of time to assess the damage and find a contractor and work on repairs," said Fleshman.

But it also took a long time to repair because of the building's historical significance.

"There are a lot of strict parameters when renovating historic buildings and the county has taken extraordinary steps to make sure this building appears exactly as it did in 2014," he said.

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There are three functioning courtrooms in the building and for four and half years they have had to reshuffle where they conduct that court business. They even converted a small storage room into a courtroom.

"We had makeshift courtrooms over there, we had makeshift courtrooms over here. We used part of the building for awhile when it was determined safe. It has been kind of juggling," said attorney Linda McIntyre.

Fleshman says they did take this opportunity to fortify the building, using modern supplies and techniques to give the courthouse a better chance of staying intact during the next earthquake.

Take a look at more stories and videos about the South Napa Earthquake