The historic Barry County Courthouse has been updated over the last three weeks, with about 50 new geothermal units being installed at the building.

Steve Blankenship, Barry County presiding commissioner, said bids were put out for the project last summer, and the total cost is about $300,000.

“They are pretty well done now,” Blankenship said on Thursday. “All our old units were about 20 or more years old, and the heat was turned back on late on Wednesday.”

Passersby last week may have noticed water being flushed out from the southeast corner of the building. Blankenship said that was part of the installation process.

“They were flushing the system so we didn’t have any water with rust going through the new units,” he said.

Temperatures took a dive during that period, but Blankenship said those working at the courthouse managed the situation.

“A couple of the people working there said it got pretty cold, but they did alright,” he said.

Blankenship said the majority of the original geothermal units were installed in 1996, and many had stopped working properly.