Ground-breaking ceremony for $50.5 millon project due to open in
August 2006
It’s been a long haul, and the way was not always smooth, but construction on the new county courthouse has begun.
On Thursday afternoon county officials and judges picked up shovels and broke ground for the new Morgan Hill Courthouse and Justice Agencies Building on the corner of Butterfield Boulevard and Diana Avenue, south of the Caltrain parking lot. Supervisor Don Gage, acting as emcee at the affair, promised an August 2006 completion.
“The facility will serve our current and future needs as population grows in South County and the demand for services increases,” Gage said.
Mayor Dennis Kennedy, putting conflicts over the buildings’ appearance and design behind him, welcomed the courthouse and its prospective tenants to town.
“We are very proud to host this courthouse,” Ken-nedy said.
The $50.5 million project will produce two buildings, one for the six courtrooms, juries and underground holding areas for prisoners, the other for district attorneys, public defenders and probation department, all totaling 90,000 square-feet. Construction cost is $31.8 million.
Kiri Torre, the court’s CEO, said she was proud that the center would include a supervised children’s’ waiting area and carrels for pros-pective jurors wanting to use laptop computers.
“We will have the highest level of security,” Torre assured the crowd.
Neighbors had voiced concerns about the presence of possibly violent criminals so close to their homes and schools.
The City of Morgan Hill’s Redevelopment Agency bought the land for the county as a trade off for the county not challenging the RDA’s existence. The RDA keeps money that would otherwise end up in county coffers.
Because the eight-acre site will connect by a tree-lined sidewalk and across the at-grade railroad crossing to downtown restaurants and businesses, city officials and business owners hope the influx of court employees looking for lunch and other services will afford a bright economic boost to the area. Gage agreed.
“This will provide a direct stimulus to the local economy,” Gage said.
Superior Court Presiding Judge Thomas Hansen joked to the assembled crowd that, with this courthouse, a justice center returns to Morgan Hill. When he began practicing law 37 years ago, he said, Morgan Hill’s courthouse, staffed by a Justice of the Peace, was a storefront room with plywood partitions and shared with a Chinese restaurant.
“People could get justice and Chinese take out at the same time,” Hansen said. “But today the court returns to its Morgan Hill roots.”
Construction of the courthouse is the result of a collaborative effort by Morgan Hill, Santa Clara County and the Superior Court to ensure heightened access to justice in a first class facility for decades to come, said Hansen.
The county had abandoned the San Martin courthouse complex at Monterey Road and Highland Avenue because it has outgrown the site and because the existing building is so riddled with mold inside and out that it had to be closed. In 2001 the county settled a lawsuit with the general contractor, H.A. Ekelin & Associates, and 17 other defendants for $8,040,000.
The money was sent to a contingency fund during fiscal year 2002 where it was used by supervisors to close the budget gap.
Gage said that was a good use of the funds since the supervisors intended to sell bonds to pay for the new courthouse all along.
Court is currently held in trailers on the site. The moldy buildings will be demolished.Interior spaces of the facilities, including the grand main lobby and the public circulation spaces, will be filled with natural light. Views of the neighboring hills will be visible from inside the building. There also will be shaded outdoor plazas. The continuous colonnade of courthouse bay windows will anchor the building.
Surface parking will be nestled behind the buildings, so that the prominent public image will be architectural.
Signage will be designed to be simple and easy to understand with architectural and landscaping which create a clear and understandable path for visitors.
The Architect is RossDrulisCusenbery Architecture of Sonoma. The construction manager is Don Todd Associates of San Jose and San Francisco. The construction contractor is West Bay Builders of Novato.
Carol Holzgrafe covers City Hall for The Times. She can be reached by e-mail at ch********@mo*************.com or phoning (408) 779-4106 Ext. 201
