The wrecking ball was poised to strike at midday. On the Public Square in Belleville 500 spectators waited to witness the demolition of the 111-year-old St. Clair County Courthouse. It was June 1, 1972.
At 12:33 p.m. bugler Wesley Hoeffken, an Althoff high school freshman, sounded a farewell to the once majestic structure.
But not everyone came to mourn. Some simply came to see the show. One woman remarked that she had broken the speed limit to get there from O'Fallon. One man booed a mail truck that temporarily blocked the view. He said, "I feel like I'm in the middle of a good movie, and the film broke."
Moments before the wrecking crew moved in, members of the Citizens Court House Committee picked up their placards and stowed them in the backs of their station wagons. Their protest ended in a cloud of dust as the headache ball hammered into the northwest wall of the courthouse. "We fought the good fight but we lost," said co-chairman George Rogers Sr.
For well over a century, crowds rallied around the courthouse steps to listen to long-winded political speeches. Voters hung out in courthouse hallways to catch late-night election results. The historic building was a hub of activity where judges, lawyers and citizens participated in the ordinary business of everyday government.
But on this day the business at hand was tearing down the century-old edifice where the government had been run. Two dozen policemen stood by to maintain order, but onlookers gave them no trouble.
Grumblings were heard, tears were shed, heads were shaken, but Belleville resigned itself to progress. As the pounding of the wrecking ball persisted throughout the afternoon, watchers grew weary and went their own ways. Less than a hundred onlookers lasted to the end.
Four years later, in 1976, following delays blamed on bad weather, union strikes and materials shortages, dignitaries christened the new $10 million courthouse complex.
