By Shavonne Potts
spotts@salisburypost.com
About six years ago, the main entrance to the Rowan County Courthouse, located at North Main Street, closed. Officials cited security reasons.
That entrance is open again. It reopened May 4.
“It seems to be going well, and it does ease the burden of the Liberty Street side,” said Capt. John Sifford of the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office.
The Main Street entrance had always functioned as a quicker way to get to the Clerk of Courts office and other offices located in that part of the building.
When it closed in 2003, all of the traffic was funneled to the Liberty Street entrance.
After the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001, the security of public buildings came to the forefront. The County closed the Main Street entrance and beefed up security with an X-ray machine, digital cameras and monitors.
That entrance has been bombarded over the years with people waiting to get into the courthouse, sometimes with lines stretching to the street.
Now, courthouse visitors can enter from the Main Street side of the building located beside the Rowan Museum. When entering, people still have to empty their pockets and walk through a metal detector.
“It’s something we had hoped to do for quite some time,” Sifford said.