Aug 4, 2026
Jonathan Rich
BrevardBeagle.com
Monday night Brevard City Council officially expressed interest in moving city offices and the Brevard Police Department into the Historic Transylvania Courthouse once the new courthouse building is completed and occupied adjacent to the current Public Safety Center off Morris Road.
In a letter sent to members of the Transylvania County Board of Commissioners dated Aug. 4, Brevard Mayor Maureen Copelof made a case for moving city municipal offices from their current location on Main Street and relocating the Brevard Police Department from Commerce Street to that same location where Superior and Criminal Court cases are tried.
“It is the Council’s hope that Transylvania County will partner with us to explore the possibility of making this historic building Brevard’s ‘new’ City Hall, thus maintaining the county’s most notable building as a civic space,” Copelof wrote. “It is important that this iconic architectural gem remains active and open to the community and we believe that under our stewardship it can continue to breathe life into the heart of the county seat by serving as the functional, well-preserved home of our municipal operations.”
The current Transylvania County Courthouse began as a two-story frame structure in after the end of the Civil War and its 1881 construction was the first brick building in Brevard when it was initially used as a community meeting place, voting center, and courtroom. In 1921, an $80,000 jail was added to the rear and of the building and the interior was remodeled to include larger court facilities.
In recent years the Historic Courthouse has been the victim of overcrowding due to its limited size and those working in it have had to endure reoccurring plumbing issues in the basement storage area as well as falling ceiling tiles in the main courtroom.
A new and improved three-story Transylvania Courthouse is planned to be built on county-owned land near the Public Safety Complex on Morris Road with construction bids expected later this year and occupancy targeted for 2028.
The Veterans History Museum of the Carolinas moved into the location’s former adjunct administrative offices behind the Main Street gazebo in 2019 and as recently as June management for the military museum had expressed interest in relocating its offices and exhibits to the historic courthouse.
In her letter, Mayor Copelof made the city’s case clear:
“Our request is also a practical one; the City organization has immediate space needs. Our intention is to relocate the City of Brevard’s governing board, administrative, finance, and planning functions to the circa 1886 and circa 1900 portions of the building. This entails the need for a public meeting chamber, conference rooms, space for records storage, a publicly accessible payment window, workspace and related amenities for up to 40 staff people,” she explained. “In addition, we wish to explore the circa 1910 portion of the courthouse as a home for our law enforcement agency. The Brevard Police Department currently occupies leased space at 132 Commerce St. Though this space is adequate, the City wishes to have all its services in City-controlled spaces. We also believe there are community benefits to having municipal law enforcement centrally located in the downtown core. Finally, the lease for BPD’s current space expires in June 2029, with a large rent increase expected if it’s renewed beyond that date, so a relocation could help that agency’s bottom line.”
Councilman Lauren Wise said he moved to Brevard in 2009 and discussion about occupancy of the Historic Courthouse once a new one had been completed was nothing new.
“I think there is a really strong opportunity here, with lots of caveats because I’m an architect and old buildings worry me a lot – especially this kind of age –, but what I think is critical to me is that this has to be a civic building,” Wise said Monday night. “I has to maintain a civic presence because it is the most important building in Transylvania County. I’m really excited if there is an opportunity for us as a city to renovate it and keep it active for the people”
The Brevard Police Department moved to its current location on Commerce Street in the summer of 2024 after workplace concerns involving mold growing in the basement offices of City Hall adjacent to the Brevard Fire Department.
Mayor Pro Tem Aaron Baker expressed his enthusiasm about the possibility of a new home for various city administrative offices just a few city blocks down Main Street from where they are now.
“This is our county’s icon and an icon for the city of Brevard as well,” Baker said. “I truly believe this is one of the most important projects that we could endeavor upon over the next few years … I think the only viable option for this building to stay within civic use and belonging to the people of Transylvania County and Brevard is for it to be the center of our municipal services and City Hall.”