In the final months of 2017, High Street in Waynesburg was crowded with construction vehicles around the Greene County Courthouse. Now, in February 2018, the vehicles are gone—but construction projects continue to be ongoing.

The Greene County Courthouse sits as part of the 44 Historic properties in Greene County, according to the National Registry of Historic Places. Constructed in 1850, the courthouse has continually seen repairs throughout the years—even up until the end of last year. In recent years, funding for the renovations has come from the oil and gas industry in Greene County through the Pennsylvania Act 13 law.

StateImpact, a reporting project of the NPR, explains that Act 13 charges an “impact fee” to all drilling in the Marcellus Shale formation. This impact fee goes directly to the state and its counties. Each year, the amount varies, depending on factors such as the price of natural gas and the Consumer Price Index. Since 2011, Act 13 has created more than $1 billion for the state.

On the courthouse construction, specifically, Blair Zimmerman, chairman of the Greene County Board of Commissioners, said that “when you are dealing with historic buildings, it is a lot money.”

The most recent construction on the courthouse has included renovations to the bell tower, new columns, updated porch, and strides to repair the rot from the past 137 years.

According to Zimmerman, the courthouse will need to be entirely replaced eventually, noting that this reconstruction likely won’t be during his term.

Since 1997, Greene County has put more than $5 million into courthouse repairs. The bulk of that stemming from the 1997 renovation.  An official history of the courthouse, published by Greene County, states:

“A project costing approximately $4.1 million was undertaken to raze the old jail and a portion of the old sheriff’s residence annexed to the courthouse of the purpose of housing an elevator, public restrooms, a second courtroom, judge’s chambers, law library, and other necessary facilities and offices. The project also included renovation to the original courthouse with an attempt to maintain the historical integrity of that building to the extent possible while complying with current regulations.”

Other repairs since the courthouse’s original construction in 1850 include replacing the Nathaniel Greene Statue—three times—painting over brick, constructing a new bell, adding a third floor to the jail and sheriff’s residence, repairing the bell tower and repairing the porch.

It was not until 2012 that Greene County saw its first allocation of funds from Act 13, according to the county’s audit report. From 2012 to 2016, the county has received over $18 million from this act.

The Greene County Commissioners have used Act 13 money for a variety of infrastructure upgrades, for Children and Youth Services, for the general fund use, housing projects, information technology services, records management and more, as mentioned in the county’s audit reports for each year. According to Jeffrey Marshall, chief clerk of Greene County, $935,000 of Act 13 monies has gone to repair the courthouse.