The Santa Barbara County Courthouse has been closed to the public and tourism since the beginning of the pandemic. 
The Santa Barbara County Courthouse seen from Anacapa Street in 1937, left, and 2022. 
Closure signs are set up near the courthouse entrance and security screening area. “Tower Closed: The courthouse is currently closed to tourism,” one sign reads. 
Santa Barbara County’s administration building sits across the street from the historic courthouse on Anacapa and Anapamu streets in downtown Santa Barbara. 
The Sunken Garden of the courthouse, seen from Anapamu Street in Santa Barbara. 
The tiled staircase leading to the clock tower of the courthouse. 
A view from the second floor of the courthouse, looking east. 
A panorama of Santa Barbara, with the original courthouse seen on the right, in 1887. 
Santa Barbara’s original courthouse, seen in 1919, was built in the 1870s in a Greek revival architectural style. 
Santa Barbara’s original courthouse was damaged in the 1925 earthquake. 
A view of Old Spanish Days festivities at the courthouse Sunken Garden around 1940. 
A dancer and musicians entertain at the courthouse during Old Spanish Days around 1940. 
Dancers strike a pose at the Sunken Garden during Las Noches de Ronda during Old Spanish Days in 2018. 
A dancer and musicians entertain at the courthouse during Old Spanish Days around 1940.
Santa Barbara’s historic courthouse building is reopening to the public next week, after being closed to tourism for more than two years.
The iconic buildings and gardens occupy an entire city block in downtown Santa Barbara, and the complex is recognized as a city, state and national historic landmark.
Santa Barbara County owns the building and Superior Court runs the court operations inside the facility.
The Sunken Garden is the venue for many Old Spanish Days performances, concerts, and the free summertime outdoor film series where people set up blankets and chairs on the lawn. The buildings and gardens are a popular spot for weddings and wedding photos, and many community groups use the courthouse building and steps as a gathering place for protests, rallies or announcements.
View the photo gallery above by clicking the arrow on the right side of the picture.
County departments have been meeting with court staff for weeks to develop a reopening plan, and the building will reopen to the public on Monday.
The county also will start allowing people to book the Mural Room and other courthouse venues for weddings.
Santa Barbara County Superior Court Executive Officer Darrel Parker says the security screening that was implemented for the historic building during the COVID-19 pandemic is becoming permanent at the main archway entrance by Anacapa Street and is being added to the Santa Barbara Street entrance as well.
“We put the weapons security in place partially because we were checking temperatures,” Parker said.
The newer, Figueroa Street courthouse across the street has had this type of security screening entrance for years, but the historic courthouse had no security for public entrances before 2020, when the building closed to tourism.
Santa Barbara County also plans to add security screening to the entrances of both administration buildings, at 105 E. Anapamu St. in Santa Barbara and 511 E. Lakeside Pkwy. in Santa Maria.
Parker said the Superior Court is changing security contractors in May, so the courthouse reopening was scheduled to happen after the switch.
The building's court operations have been ongoing during the pandemic, although jury trial suspensions and other policies have heavily disrupted them and created a major backlog of cases, according to Superior Court, the District Attorney's Office and the Public Defender's Office.
Before the pandemic closed the courthouse to tourism, people visited the building and walked up the clock tower to the observation deck all hours of the day. Self-guided tours and docent-led tours were also extremely popular, and tour buses have dedicated parking spots next to the building.
The courthouse information booth and docent-led tours will not be available on Monday, but will likely get going again soon, according to the county.
The Santa Barbara County Courthouse Docent Council recently graduated seven new members after a 10-week training program on the construction and operation of the landmark facility. This is the first class of new members since 2020, docent Barbara Peters said. The group was designated as the “official hosts for the building” in 1981. Its website also has virtual and self-guided tour information.
The Docent Council has coordinated several restoration projects during the building closure and the county had crews freshening up the paint on several interior walls this week ahead of the Monday reopening, county architect Robert Ooley said.
Check back with Noozhawk next week for a story about the restoration projects.
Courthouse History
Many of Santa Barbara’s buildings were damaged or destroyed in the 1925 earthquake, including the city’s 1870s courthouse that was built in the Greek revival architectural style.
The new courthouse complex “served as the prime catalyst for the community in its quest to remake itself to more fully reflect its Spanish roots,” Ooley wrote in the 2004 application for the National Historic Landmark designation.
“The city fathers had determined to create an atmosphere of old Spain by creating an architecture review board and providing design assistance to those commercial owners who agreed to remodel or rebuild their buildings in a Spanish Revival style,” Ooley wrote. “The choice of such a design for the new county courthouse in 1926 provided inspiration and impetus for the rest of the community.”
The county contracted the William Mooser Co. as the architectural firm and William Mooser III was chief architect, who had just returned to California after spending 17 years in southern Spain.
The Santa Barbara County Courthouse was built in 1926-29 and “quickly became a hallmark of the city’s new look,” according to the Courthouse Docent Council. It was officially dedicated at the 1929 Old Spanish Days Fiesta.
Its layout and Spanish-Moorish revival design emulates a Spanish castle or fortress, according to Ooley. It is pretty obvious once the castle-like elements are pointed out, he said.
Most of its rooms face south to get the heat of the day, and it has ‘castle defense’ design elements including the clock tower with 360-degree views from the observation deck, exterior defense balconies, and passages leading to an alarm bell on the southeast corner of the building.
Many artists contributed to the finer work of the courthouse including fountains, carvings, paintings, murals, and metal work.
Most of the courthouse tile came from the Malibu Tile Co., Ooley said, and others are Tunisian Chemla tiles.
— Noozhawk managing editor Giana Magnoli can be reached at gmagnoli@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
