FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WPTA) - On Sept. 23, 1902, the Allen County Courthouse was dedicated just five years after its cornerstone was laid between what is now East Main and West Berry Streets.

The building was the first solo project of architect Brentwood Tolan, an art student apprenticing under his father during that period. It cost $817,000 to build.

To replicate it today would cost more than $250 million, in part because of its distinctive style.

“What was unique about that time is that in Chicago, was the World Exposition or the Columbian Exposition that was the launch of the Beaux-Arts movement,” Robyn Zimmerman, executive director of Allen County Courthouse Preservation Trust, said. “And you can see all of those beautiful arts here.”

“So instead of Tolan purchasing catalogue artwork,

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