The Walt Disney movie, The
Mighty Ducks, starring Emilio Estevez, was filmed in Minnesota and released
in 1992. One Friday afternoon, when the
film company was scouting locations, I received a telephone message: Could I open the Sibley County Courthouse for
an advance person to scout it for the courtroom scene in the movie? So it was that I met the lady at the
courthouse on Saturday morning and gave her the grand tour.
Built in 1916, the Sibley County Courthouse boasts Doric
Columns facing to the south and a grand rotunda in the center of the building. I recall talking with an older Winthrop
resident when I first started practicing law in 1974, who told me he was at the
cornerstone laying of the courthouse in 1916, when speeches were made and an
exhibition boxing match was given by famous St. Paul boxers, the Gibbons brothers,
Tom and Mike.
Over the years, likely to attempt to save on heating costs,
the skylights on either side of the rotunda were covered up, as was the
rotunda. Water had infiltrated, causing
paint to peel away in sections of the rotunda and the surrounding ceiling. The Courtroom itself had its high ceiling
lowered and also had peeling paint and the ornate crown molding around the
ceiling line was damaged in several spots.
In the 1990’s, the County Board embarked on a restoration
project which opened up the skylights, repaired the rotunda and restored the crown
molding around the ceiling of the courtroom.
They did a wonderful job restoring the building’s former beauty and
making it functional again.
The advance person from the film company spent a couple of
hours in the courtroom, in the rotunda area, shooting about three rolls of
film. I like to think we came in second
to the Stearns County Courthouse, which had a larger courtroom, making it more
suitable for the film equipment.
In more recent years, the courtroom has been modified to
make it a modern technology space. A
state of the art sound system has been installed as well as a system to assist
hearing impaired persons. An interactive
television system is built in, and monitors on the bench, counsel tables and
for the audience are available, as well as a drop-down screen on which the ITV
can be projected for jurors. There is a
document camera, which permits exhibits to be shown on all the screens in the
courtroom, as well as connections for computers to be plugged in for
display. Most recently, wireless
internet has been made available for use by attorneys and the public.
It is a pretty neat place to go to work!
* * *
* * * *
Next Week: Anniversary
