WW commissioners are considering opening the courthouse cornerstone
By Griffin Beach on Tuesday, May 13th, 2025 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
WALLA WALLA – On Monday the Walla Walla County Board of Commissioners discussed a change to some of the work ongoing at the county courthouse. The county’s Director of Facilities Maintenance Robert Grandstaff told the commissioners that encased in the courthouse’s cornerstone is a box of artifacts placed there when the courthouse was built in 1915. He asked the commissioners for a change in the contract to allow the workers already on-site to remove the cornerstone so that the artifacts could be retrieved.
“This would basically be removing by grounding out the joint and then removing the granite face that’s there,” Grandstaff said. “It was intended to be done that way.”
Commissioner Todd Kimball asked if this was the appropriate time to perform this work and dislodge the time capsule.
“Would’ve been good to do at the 100-year anniversary of the courthouse or you know some milestone, I think 110 (years) is kind of an abstract time to do it,” said Kimball.
He also noted that although he was on the fence about the project, he was open to doing it if the other commissioners were on board.
“It’s intriguing, I’ll put it that way,” he added.
Commissioner Bertha Clayton said that if this was done, she envisioned more of a broad plan utilizing other artifacts from the county.
“I think that we should leverage this opportunity to make it part of a greater educational experience.” said Clayton.
Grandstaff did mention that the removal could be done by the masonry staff already on site. Commissioner Gunner Fulmer said doing it with qualified workers already on site made a lot of sense to him.
The commissioners came to a consensus to allow Grandstaff to get a quote for the work and bring it back to the board.
