Kenosha County to host Oct. 4 open house in Courthouse’s recently restored Ceremonial Courtroom
The public is invited to tour the newly restored Ceremonial Courtroom in the Kenosha County Courthouse during an open house from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 4, County Executive Samantha Kerkman announced.
Held in conjunction with the Kenosha Community Foundation’s week of 100th anniversary activities, the open house will include a 1:30 p.m. performance of “Lovers of Liberty,” an original musical composition created to tell the story of the Ceremonial Courtroom.
“The restored courtroom is a breathtaking space that we’re excited to share with the public,” Kerkman said. “It’s a project that would not have happened without the support of the community, and we’re pleased to showcase it at this open house.”
The courtroom renovation, which began in 2025 and was completed this summer, restored the grand, two-story-tall room to its original 1925 appearance, removing a dropped ceiling and revealing a large leaded-glass skylight and decorative ornamentation that had been covered up since the 1960s.
Supporting the project was a $675,000 matching grant from the Jeffris Family Foundation, matched by more than $1.5 million in contributions from community members, businesses and foundations. A three-and-a-half-year fundraising campaign was led by a Blue Ribbon Committee co-chaired by retired Judge Mary Kay Wagner and former County Executive John Collins.
The project also modernized the room with the installation of state-of-the-art audiovisual equipment and mechanical systems. While the restored room provides the community with a grand space for weddings, adoptions, and other ceremonial proceedings, it also remains a working courtroom for Judge Chad Kerkman’s Branch 8 court.
A frieze that rings the room, now back in sight after the removal of the dropped ceiling, displays a quote from Abraham Lincoln in large, gold-leafed letters:
“Let every American, every lover of liberty, every well-wisher to his posterity, swear by the blood of the Revolution, never to violate in the least particular, the laws of the country; and never to tolerate their violation by others.”
The Lincoln quote inspired the title of the musical composition to be performed at the open house by the Prairie String Quartet and the Courthouse Orchestra. Organizer Julia Nowicki said this group comprises a cross-section of the vibrant music community in Kenosha, including Kenosha Unified School District students.
“‘Lovers of Liberty’ features Ben Woods as the speaker who narrates the beauty of the courtroom and the ideals proclaimed — set in stone, engraved on walls and murals painted — by our Kenosha ancestors,” Nowicki said. “The piece is 12 minutes in duration and performed IN the courtroom, so you can view the room as the story unfolds.”
The Kenosha Community Foundation, which is celebrating its centennial, served as the fiscal sponsor for the courtroom restoration fundraising campaign. Foundation Executive Director Amy Greil said it was rewarding to see the project to fruition, and now to share the fruits of our efforts with the public.
“The Kenosha Community Foundation is more than proud to have contributed to the success of this historic project,” Greil said. “The philanthropists, organizers, and partners representing all segments of the community who came together now offer this special gift to the community, for generations to come.”
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