Dallas County's once-neglected Old Red Courthouse will reopen Tuesday, restored to its 19th-century booster glory and housing a museum of artifacts ranging from Clyde Barrow's gun to Spanky McFarland's pants. About $23 million went into what officials intended as a rescue project, not only of the building itself but also of local history.
The sandstone-and-granite courthouse, which stood abandoned and waterlogged for more than a decade, will reappear as its builders envisioned – as an advertisement for a community that saw itself as a coming regional power. Inside, the Old Red Museum of Dallas County History & Culture will, backers hope, give residents of Dallas and its suburbs a sense of shared identity and will show visitors that something occurred here other than the assassination of a president.
The opening of the museum and rededication of the courthouse officially begins at 11:45 a.m. Tuesday with ceremonies on the building's Main Street side.
