Passaic County officials rededicated the Historic Passaic County Court House this week after an $11.2 million restoration designed to preserve key historic elements and improve accessibility.
Leaders from the Passaic County Board of County Commissioners, the Passaic County Vicinage, the New Jersey Supreme Court, and U.S. Rep. Nellie Pou attended the ceremony. Commissioner Director Sandi Lazzara said the building has been central to county life for more than 120 years, and the goal was to help it last another 120.
For mason contractors and preservation-focused crews, the scope reads like a familiar checklist for long-term durability. The county said the project included repairs to the courthouse’s copper dome and cupola, repointing masonry, refinishing exterior surfaces and balustrades, reopening the original rear portico, and restoring historic architectural features. The Clark Street entrance is expected to reopen soon.
Assignment Judge Rudolph A. Filko noted that the courthouse’s appearance shapes how the public experiences the courts, and he credited the county for completing the work without interrupting court operations. That kind of occupied-building requirement can drive how restoration teams plan access, protection of finished areas, and daily sequencing when exterior masonry work is underway.
The county funded the project through a bond ordinance supported by the Passaic County Open Space, Farmland and Historic Preservation Trust Fund, along with a $2.25 million grant from the New Jersey Historic Trust. HMR Architects led the design team, and Joseph A. Natoli Construction served as contractor under a Passaic County Project Labor Agreement.
Commissioned in 1895, designed by Samuel Burrage Reed, and completed in 1903, the Italian Renaissance Revival building features a copper dome modeled after Michelangelo’s dome of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The courthouse is listed on the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places as part of a historic district.
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