Morgan Hill
– It’s been a long haul, and the way was not always smooth, but
construction on the new county courthouse has begun.
Morgan Hill – 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 broke ground on 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.
Morgan Hill 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,” Kennedy said.
The $50.5-million project will include 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. The City of Morgan Hill’s Redevelopment Agency paid for the land.
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 it 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.”
The county abandoned the San Martin courthouse complex at Monterey Road and Highland Avenue 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.
Court is currently held in trailers on the site. The moldy buildings will be demolished.
