The Jasper County Courthouse has had the same brick road around it since 1900. It has been worked on a few times before, but this project is the biggest one yet. The bricks around the courthouse have been the same for decades. The bricks used to branch out to other streets as well, but now only the roads around the Jasper County Courthouse are brick. Grimmer Construction of Highland led this project, and they tried to use as many old bricks as possible to rebuild the roads. This project was 3 years in the making, it and was scheduled to start on February 26, 2024. Mayor Jeff Philips had a vision to make Rensselaer look better than before and this project was just the start. Rensselaer received a $1.8 million grant for this project. The city is using these funds to build new sidewalks, stormwater improvements, new lighting, and renovated brick streets. The project was finally finished on October 2, 2024, and the roads have now opened. This project was years in the making, but it has helped our city flourish.