With a few more days of dry weather, the new South County
Courthouse and Justice Center will be another step closer to
completion, according to Santa Clara County project manager Ken
Rato, but judges and district attorneys likely won’t move in until
the fall of 2008.
With a few more days of dry weather, the new South County Courthouse and Justice Center will be another step closer to completion, according to Santa Clara County project manager Ken Rato, but judges and district attorneys likely won’t move in until the fall of 2008.
The recent rains have delayed the paving of parking areas, and work has focused on the interior of the courthouse building. If work continues at its current pace, Rato said Thursday, he is “pretty optimistic” about meeting the completion date.
The majority of the exterior work on the estimated $52.6 million county facility is finished, and with the addition of the landscaping this spring, Rato said, the site will be an attractive addition to the city.
“It’s looking very nice, and with the landscaping, that will highlight the features of the building,” he said.
Rato’s staff and contractors have moved into the justice center building and have moved the construction trailers off of the site, he said.
Attorney Sheila Peterson, president of the South County Bar Association, said Friday that the six new courtrooms in the 80,000-square-foot facility will fill up as soon as they are opened.
“We will have a full family law calendar, which is something we haven’t had in the South County before,” she said. “It’s very positive.”
A family law judge has been selected, she said, and is already being assigned South County based on a form that requires the petitioner to list their city of residence. Once the new courtrooms open, one of them will be dedicated to the family law calendar.
Deputy District Attorney Mark Hood said he and his colleagues are anxiously awaiting the opening of the facility.
“It’s 10 steps forward,” he said Friday. “It was designed to last a couple of decades into the future, not to be overcrowded as soon as it opens, that’s the good thing. It’s designed to expand with the community.”
Construction on the courthouse has been behind schedule, though Rato said work has been progressing rapidly for months. The current South County facility is located in a collection of portables in San Martin in the wake of the closing of the courthouse which was built in 1995.
The former facility was closed due to mold problems that made employees sick and led to the condemnation of the building.
Back-to-back wet winters have been blamed as the primary culprit in delayed construction of the new facility.
Groundbreaking for the new courthouse was three years ago this month.
