The DeSoto County Courthouse at 115 East Oak Street in Arcadia, Florida, is the pivotal building of the Arcadia Historic District and has been the seat of county business since 1913. In 2024, Graciano Corporation restored the courthouse’s exterior masonry on a six-month, $1.9 million contract while the building remained in daily use.
The Building
The Tampa architectural firm Bonfoey and Elliot, then one of the most prominent in Florida, designed the courthouse, and Read-Parker Construction Company of Arcadia held the contract. The cornerstone was laid on May 17, 1912, and the building was accepted as complete on May 5, 1913. The NRHP nomination for the Arcadia Historic District describes it as a monumental Classical Revival building that “exhibits elements of both Greek and Roman Classicism,” with red brick walls, stone trim, terra cotta detailing, and a deep cornice. The Arcadia Historic District was added to the National Register on May 10, 1984, under reference number 84000842, and the form identifies the courthouse itself as “the pivotal building in the district.”
The 2024 Restoration
DeSoto County issued a notice to proceed on June 7, 2024. The $1.9 million contract included a $500,000 grant from the Florida Department of State, Division of Historical Resources. Because the courthouse could not close, Graciano began by encapsulating the entire building in steel scaffolding and dust-protection scrim to keep work and debris out of the building’s interior, where county business continued throughout the project.
Graciano cleaned the brick, terra cotta, and limestone surfaces with a soft water wash, then removed invasive weeds and roots growing in the joints and treated them with a deterrent. With the masonry clean, the crew cut out and repointed all of the terra cotta, glass-block, and limestone joints with a high-lime-content replacement mortar, historically correct for soft older brick that a Portland-based mortar would crack. Graciano’s masons spot-pointed defective brick joints. Where individual units were too far gone, the crew replaced or patched broken terra cotta, spalled limestone, and damaged brick in kind. They removed and replaced the severely corroded steel lintels.
For weatherproofing, Graciano applied urethane sealant to the top surfaces of the cornices, water tables, and wash surface masonry joints, then laid an elastomeric, breathable masonry waterproof coating over the terra cotta cornices and water tables, which lets the masonry release humidity instead of trapping it inside.
To finish, the crew recoated the main roof, installed a new pent roof, and reinstalled the original lightning-protection cable, which had gone missing. They relocated security cameras on the north, south, east, and west elevations and fabricated new ADA-compliant handrails for the entrances.
The work finished on schedule and on budget. The building never stopped operating.
The Pivotal Building
The DeSoto County Courthouse remains what the NRHP called it in 1984: the pivotal building in the district. Graciano’s 2024 work brought it back to standard without interrupting that role.