The Illinois
Second District
Appellate Court House
55 Symphony Way
Elgin, Illinois 60120
On Monday, April 30. 2012, the Downtown Neighborhood Association coordinated, with the Illinois Second District Appellate Court in Elgin, and offered a rare tour of the Court House, located at 55 Symphony Way.
It was a rare opportunity to enter and view the inside of the entire building.
Elgin was selected as the seat of the district, part of the civic urban renewal center that included the Elgin City Hall and Police Department, Gail Borden Public Library, the main U.S Post Office and the Hemmens Cultural Center.
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| Entrance from the Lobby into the Courtroom. |
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| Skylight in the Courtroom - the pyramidcal roof seen from the outside. |
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| Original gallery chairs, still in perfect condition. |
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| Courtroom and gallery from the Bench. |
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| The walls are made from oiled teak wood. |
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| The bench: three justices sit at a hearing. |
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| Current case file. |
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| Case call board, no longer used. Below the panel is a resolution honoring former long-time court clerk Clifton Simmons. |
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| Portion of the Law Library. Eventually this will be closed and replaced with online access. |
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| Judges' deliberation and conference room. Many important law decision are made at this table. |
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| Clerk's office and staff area. They have a panoramic view of The Centre. |
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| The courtyard from inside. The open-window design blurs the lines from inside and out. |
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| Wall of former judges serving the Second District. |
The most fascinating area of the building is the second floor. It was designed to provide overnight accommodations for judges. It is seldom used anymore, but at one time, due to travel time, many justices from the western reaches of the district came in and stayed for the week.
The furniture is all original, and is in pristine condition. It is as though it virtually a time capsule of modern 1966 design. It was never upgraded and modernized. The reason was lack of funds to do so from the state. It is a credit to those maintaining the building that what was there was so well taken care of.
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| The table is always set. It is still used for breakfast and luncheon meetings. |
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| Dining area with patio overlooking Elgin. |
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| View from the dining room; the police department is off in the distance. |
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| Vintage clock and floor model television. The television has been modernized to some extent - there is an HD converter box and antennae turner, but apparently there is no money in the budget for cable or satellite TV. |
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| A thank you letter from Vice President Spiro Agnew. Yes, he spent the night in Elgin once, and slept here. |
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| Vintage sitting area. |
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| Former Chicago Bear Bob Thomas, now an Illinois Supreme Court Justice, served here prior to his current position. |
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| The south end of the lobby, viewed from the reception and security desk. |
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