The former San Martin Courthouse, a mold-infested building that
has been vacant for more than 10 years, will be demolished in a few
weeks, and county officials say a master plan to develop the
surrounding property will soon follow.
Morgan Hill
The former San Martin Courthouse, a mold-infested building that has been vacant for more than 10 years, will be demolished in a few weeks, and county officials say a master plan to develop the surrounding property will soon follow.
Santa Clara County awarded a contract for the building’s demolition worth about $355,000 to Randazzo Enterprises, Inc., according to Siva Darbhamulla, chief of design services for the capital programs division of the county’s facilities and fleet department.
The contract also includes the removal of electrical systems near the useless building on Monterey Road that are still operational for other facilities on the county-owned site, and then demolition will begin in “four to five weeks.” The contractor will also be responsible for cleanup and planting grass where the condemned structure stands now.
Darbhamulla said the contractor will begin installing temporary construction fencing next week.
The site now is an “eyesore,” according to Supervisor Don Gage. The property surrounding the old courthouse building includes a cluster of temporary trailers that housed courtrooms and offices for court-related services until the new South County Courthouse opened in Morgan Hill last month.
Gage said those trailers will be removed, and likely sold. A building about 100 yards north of the former courthouse will remain. The Sheriff’s Office sub-station for South County is located there now, and will likely stay. “We have to have a central South County location for the sheriff’s office,” Gage said.
Other services related to Social Services that used to be in that building, which is also owned by the county, have moved in recent months, Gage added.
Now staff will determine what the best use for the property is, and the next step is likely to be a master plan that Gage hopes will include the re-location of other county services to the property.
“There are lots of good uses for the property, and I don’t believe we will sell the land,” Gage said.
He noted he would like to see a new South County animal shelter built at the site.
The need for such a facility is apparent, though the cost for a new building with adequate space for the services needed and enough parking could reach $8 million, according to county Director of Agriculture Greg Van Wassenhove.
The current South County animal shelter is adjacent to the San Martin airport. A study on animal shelter services anticipated by the county was conducted in 2004. Van Wassenhove said that study indicated that the current facility will need to be removed anyway when the county proceeds on plans to expand the airport.
Furthermore, the study determined that as the population grows in South County the need for a bigger animal shelter will grow as well.
“That would be a perfect place for a new animal shelter,” said Gage, referring to the former court services site.
He noted that if the financially suffering county can come up with the money, now is a good time to undertake new construction projects as costs are significantly lower than they were a year ago.
Another trailer at the site contains a methadone clinic that serves about 140 people as part of the county’s Social Services Agency. The county executive’s recommended 2010 budget sets aside $370,000 to demolish that building and move the program to a permanent building, though details for that project have not yet been determined.
The San Martin Courthouse was condemned in 1998 after a severe mold contamination rendered it unusable, moving court services to the nearby trailers.
Capital projects manager Ken Rado said over the years the county has been “keeping its options open,” and that’s why the demolition contract was just now awarded and signed. He said one of those options was to sell the property to a private developer with the old courthouse still standing, and let the new owner worry about demolition. However, no such developer was found.
