On Friday afternoon, the day belonged not to one, but to all, as Barton County celebrated a renewed courthouse building with a ribbon-cutting ceremony in the Barton County Courthouse rotunda.

The point was enhanced as Barton County Commission Chair Barb Esfeld gathered the children and grandchildren of officials and employees together to cut the ribbon signifying the end of 11 months of hard work to restore the Barton County Courthouse.

The ribbon cutting was shared with officials from each community in the county as well as state and federal elected officials or their representatives and the contractors and subcontractors involved in the $5.05 million renovation project.

In the rotunda

Amplified by the rotunda’s acoustics, participants lent their voices to the ceremony leading up to the cutting of the ribbon.

Providing the welcome was Lindsey Bogner, Barton Community College Foundation executive director, who introduced Ellinwood Class of 2023 graduate and Kansas State University music education major Kiley Troyer, who sang an a cappella rendition of the Star Spangled Banner.

She then introduced Esfeld, who gave a short apology after her recognition of other key individuals in attendance.

“I know that that sounds like a lot of people, but we didn’t want to miss anybody because everybody took pride in this building from the painting to the floors,” Esfeld said.

“Our appreciation goes out to all of you who have supported the county in this effort, from our taxpayers to our employees, elected officials and contractors.

“It has been a labor of love for all of us as we have worked hard to develop our courthouse for another 100 years of service.

“All of you have endured two moves, catastrophic weather events, elections, a lack of restrooms and a lack of air conditioning.

“But we pressed on, so that we could begin our countdown to the year 2118, when our children’s children will celebrate the bicentennial of this grand courthouse. We will be long forgotten, but our efforts and sacrifices will be rewarded through this building’s continued service to our community.”

The microphone was then passed to each commissioner in turn as they stood on the rotunda’s southern staircase.

After the ceremony came more photos and then tours of the building for the remainder of the afternoon.