That took place in the 1850s when the buildings got an upgrade. One of those was the original Wollongong courthouse, built in 1835. It was so dilapidated by 1856 the Mercury referred to it as “the tottering temple of justice” where the magistrates lived “in bodily fear of being crushed by the falling in of the roof, or a portion of the ceiling, or the entire building”. Replaced in 1858, the courthouse received a new coat of paint in 1863, a local paint contractor using “paint that does not rub off after it has been used for a few years”. It got yet another upgrade in the 2000s, with the doors opening in 2016.
