San Joaquin Courthouse Construction

If you have ever been to the courthouse in downtown Stockton in San Joaquin County, you know that it is sadly one of the most decrepit in the state. It was built in the 60s, the court shares space with the county. They have long since outgrown it and security is impossible. It is one of the highest priority capitol outlay projects for the branch, and now a brand new courthouse is in the early planning stages. Almost everyone wants the new courthouse to stay downtown. The preferred location is right near the old building, right here on Hunter Square. The city of Stockton has agreed to donate the land. The AOC’s Office of Court Construction and Management is preparing an environmental impact report. It is the most thorough analysis which can be done on a project, which includes input from stakeholders. It’s a pleasure to open the dialogue on our new courthouse, something which we have been talking about for years and years. This is their first public meeting, comments were encouraged We are very active in our community. We outreach to our community; and so, this is kind of a natural thing for us, to get community input as it relates to our court programming. The proposed plan calls for 30 court rooms, about 300,000 square feet, 10-12 stories high. There are no architect drawings yet, way to early for that, but it promises to be a landmark project in Stockton. Naturally folks who attended the meeting had plenty of questions and suggestions. We need to bring the traffic from the north side to the south side. Are you proposing to do a comparable level of analysis for your alternative side? Our plan is to have essentially the same level of analysis for all three alternatives at two sites I guess my main concern is about the parking issue and provision of adequate parking in the downtown. It was a chance for community members to voice their priorities, which were noted. I think the need to have some open space downtown and to provide some public form, a place for people to gather is important and we need to consider that as we decide what the outside of our courthouse is going to look like and as we continue to partner with the county and the city as it relates to their plans with the area where the courthouse might be built. All the comments will be addressed in the report, and there will be more meetings like this one. Construction could begin in February 2011, which can’t come soon enough for folks who work in the old courthouse everyday. But most important, there will be a huge improvement in customer access. And we look forward to providing a safe and secure location for our residence to come and do their court business. The target move in date is February 2013.