MORGAN HILL
– Despite some past communication troubles between the City of
Morgan Hill and Santa Clara County, the two agencies will meet
again at tonight’s City Council meeting to discuss the
long-awaited, new county courthouse project.
MORGAN HILL – Despite some past communication troubles between the City of Morgan Hill and Santa Clara County, the two agencies will meet again at tonight’s City Council meeting to discuss the long-awaited, new county courthouse project.
After a series of public workshops and council meetings produced a long list of suggestions for the courthouse, county project managers went away to tweak the 80,000 square-foot, $40 million building’s design to be built on Butterfield Boulevard, between Diana Avenue and the Caltrain parking lot. Two buildings, actually; a courthouse and a smaller building to house District Attorney and court-related offices.
Under discussion are color schemes, landscaping, a shared driveway and minor design changes.
While the original scheme showed a rather stark, white building, a letter to Mayor Dennis Kennedy from Kevin Carruth, director of the county’s General Services Agency, proposed a finish “reminiscent of mission adobe buildings,” with a white finish on foreground elements and a French gray contrasting. Carruth said a red hue was increased in the gray, warming the tone. “A smooth hand-trowel texture similar to historic mission style buildings” will enhance the plaster finish, he said.
Other changes include, Carruth’s letter said, generously sized plazas at the north and south ends, easing pedestrian flow between Butterfield, through a landscaped area to the Caltrain lot and to a connecting path to Third Street and downtown, where restaurants, shops and services await county employees.
Tree density will be increased in the parking lot, giving “an orchard feel,” Carruth said, windows added and public entrances redesigned with canopies. A few details reducing the feeling of extreme height have changed the building’s roof plane. The city’s 40-foot height limit restricted roof design, requiring creativity to avoid the “flat roof” syndrome.
The city previously agreed to contribute $7 million of its RDA funds to the courthouse project in return for the county not challenging, legally, the extension of the city’s RDA. The county is abandoning the San Martin courthouse because it has outgrown the site and the existing building is so riddled with mold inside and out that it had to be closed. Court is currently held in trailers on the site. The South County Justice Center is expected to open December, 2005.
The complete Council agenda in full is available at the City Clerk’s desk in City Hall and on line. City Council and/or the Redevelopment Agency meets at 7 p.m. Wednesdays in City Hall Chambers, 17555 Peak Ave.
