SALISBURY — The main door to the Rowan County Superior Court that has been closed during COVID, reopening only part-time, will reopen full time Monday, April 3.

The doors in front were initially closed completely and all traffic was routed through the Liberty Street entrance, where a temperature controlled tunnel was installed and where Rowan County Sheriff’s deputies could control the number of people allowed in the court at any given time. In addition, the mask mandate could be monitored more easily with one entrance.

As restrictions have eased, the front door began opening part time at 1 p.m. each day, but a spokesman for the sheriff’s office said as of Monday, both the easing of all restrictions and the hiring of more part time staff mean the front entrance to the historic building will reopen at 8 a.m.

“We needed to make sure we had enough staff to cover it, because the deputies working there had some safety concerns about just having one person working that door,” said Captain Marc McDaniel. “We have enough staff now to address those concerns. But I have also said if we lose one or two people, we need to be sure we have backup, because we aren’t going to close it down again.”

The last time the front door was closed down was after 9/11, when security concerns caused the court to once again funnel traffic through one entrance. The front door reopened in 2009 after two years of work to add surveillance equipment and additional manpower.