Steuben County Courthouse Reuse Study Final Report

A Jointly Led Project

This project is a collaborative project led together by six paying entities at the request of the Steuben County Board of Commissioners. These entities include Steuben County Tourism Bureau, Steuben County Community Foundation, Steuben County Government, City of Angola, Trine University and Cameron Memorial Community Hospital. The intent of these entities is to develop a community driven plan for the future reuse of the Steuben County Courthouse and the adjacent park space.

The Need For This Plan

Completed in 2024, the new Steuben County Judicial Center serves as the center of operations for the Steuben County Courts and all County Departments pertaining to those Courts. With the Judicial Center now open for business, the Steuben County Historic Courthouse is currently unoccupied. With the Courthouse being on the Historic Registry, the building must be maintained and reused for a new purpose. 

This project is also important for the vibrancy and vitality of Downtown Angola. The Courthouse has a large presence on the Public Square and future reuse alternatives will have an impact on Downtown. 

Project Intent

The intent of this project is to develop a community-driven plan for the future reuse of the Steuben County Courthouse and the adjacent park space. This project will identify a range of alternatives for adaptive reuse of the current courthouse and adjacent park space. The planning process will have two key components. First, a community-wide consensus building initiative will be completed to collect input on the courthouse reuse. Second, an architectural evaluation will be completed to evaluate the feasibility of reuse options and estimate the cost of work.

Steuben County Courthouse Adaptive Reuse Website - Plan can be found on this website.