by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
After four and half months of meetings, plans surrounding the new Duval County Courthouse are moving into a new phase.
According to Circuit Court Judge A.C. Soud, who chairs a City planning committee overseeing the $211 million project, work on the “schematic phase” concluded Wednesday.
“We were basically meeting about two or three times a month to decide what was going to go where in the building,” said Soud. “We needed to consider factors such as how we were going to assign certain courtrooms, what floor they would go on and things like that. We also wanted to be sure that we could move the witnesses in and out without having to go through public corridors. I’m pleased to say we’ve accomplished that. We’re through with the inside of the building with respect to space allotment.”
Soud added the group also devised a way to deliver adult prisoners to and from the courthouse without ever coming into public view by using a system of private hallways.
With respect to the jury pool waiting area, Soud said it was important both to the planning committee and Mayor John Delaney to make it more adaptable for mixed use.
“We wanted it to be more multi-functional than the theater-style space we have now,” said Soud. “Jurors have to wait for hours. We thought it was important to have movable chairs, tables and partitions in there so that men and women serving would be able to get work done from their everyday jobs. We’ll also have Internet stations set up for them. The waiting area can even be adapted into a large conference room for people associated with the courthouse.”
According to Soud, the committee learned much of what they have accomplished by using examples of other courthouses around the state.
“We looked at several other courthouses in Florida,” said Soud. “One of the biggest things we were finding is that most of them were designed five years out. Construction lasts for two or three years so by the time they were built, they were already at capacity.”
Soud said the new Duval County Courthouse was designed in a matter to insure it won’t need to be expanded until 2020.
“We’ve got a good amount of shelled space, I’d say about 1,000 square feet,” he said. “Basically it is unused space without walls or lights that we don’t need right now. As we expand in the future we’ll be able to renovate it and use it. We feel very good about that.”
Though architects won’t return with formal construction plans until the end of the year, Soud said he’s pleased with the progress made on the project.
“I’m satisfied with where we are,” he said. “The new courthouse will be a signature building and it will be very user-friendly. I think the public will be pleased.”