by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
It could be seen from the dining room windows of The River Club, so it was fitting Wednesday for the Jacksonville Women Lawyers Association to host an update on the progress of the new Duval County Courthouse.
The JWLA invited representatives of KBJ Architects, to the association’s May luncheon to describe what the courthouse will look like inside and out when it is finished and the progress of the 2012 opening.
“We are on schedule for opening in May 2012,” said Brian Couch of KBJ Architects. “Both the courthouse and the State Attorney’s Office, which will be connected with a bridge will be completed at that time.”
Couch also addressed one of the latest issues of discussion regarding the courthouse project: Monroe Street.
“It has been a hot topic of discussion,” said Couch, who offered the pluses and minuses of re-opening Monroe Street in front of the courthouse or leaving it closed.
“To keep it open would maintain the grid road system in the Downtown area, but that would cause people visiting the courthouse to have to cross two lanes of traffic to get to the front door,” he said.
“Not constructing the road would also save some money on the project,” said Couch.
He also discussed some of the design features that would make the new courthouse safer. The detention areas were designed to greatly reduce the prisoners’ interaction with the public.
“It is very unlikely that prisoners will come near the victim or the families of the victim when they are brought into the courtroom,” said Couch.
The seventh floor, the building’s top floor, will contain all the judicial offices, 63 at last count.
“It was difficult to get all of them on the same floor, but we were able to save a floor and add some hearing rooms, which function like judges’ chambers in the current Duval County Courthouse.
The new courthouse will be equipped with wireless technology, so the Internet will be available throughout the building.
Though the old federal building will be remodeled to house the State Attorney’s Office, the building has also been considered for future expansion of the courthouse, said Couch.
The unified court facility is part of the Better Jacksonville Plan, and has a budget of $350 million to build the new Duval County Courthouse, renovate the old federal courthouse for the State Attorney’s Office, and renovate the fifth and sixth floors of the Ed Ball Building for the Public Defender’s Office.
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