BEAUMONT — Jefferson County commissioners approved the first step in adding a new tower roof and spire to the courthouse building at their regular meeting on Monday.

Gerald Moorehead of Bailey Architects said the need to refurbish is due to a combination of the building’s age, damage from Hurricane Rita and termite damage. He added there are some differences between historical restoration and ordinary building restoration — both of which are taking place at the courthouse.

“It deals with the older material and there is a set of guidelines we follow from the secretary of the interior,” Moorehead said. “We try to keep as much of the original fabric of the building as possible instead of throwing it away.”

Moorehead said they will focus on making the building dry since termites need moisture to survive.

According to The News archives, the courthouse opened in the 1930s after voters passed a $1 million bond to fund it in 1929. A second bond was passed in 1977 for $25.8 million to construct additions and improvements to the existing courthouse and jail building.

The copper roof was added to the courthouse in 1940 and is not original. It will be replaced with a tile roof in a three-colored pattern. Moorehead said the architects only had a photograph to go by, but believe they got the original colors correct.

The current spire atop the courthouse was recently removed because it was structurally unsound. The new aluminum spire will have a steel support.

The agenda item approved calls for an increase of $5,000 to contract with Bailey Architects for a master plan for the historical restoration of the courthouse including a cost and scope analysis to determine the extent of phase one restoration including roofing masonry and window restorations.

Phase one will construct a new tower roof made of tiles and a spire. The construction administration will begin July 1, 2008 and end Oct. 8, 2008 for a total cost of $440,460. Phase two will concentrate on refurbishing the exterior masonry and windows. The construction administration is scheduled to begin on Feb. 1, 2009 and end Oct. 1, 2009 for a total of $2,868,071.