With the new Duval County Courthouse set to open next week, Circuit Judges Mallory Cooper and Lance Day invited the media for a tour of the building Tuesday.
Cooper and Day have served as the Fourth Circuit’s Courthouse Planning Committee, working with architects and contractors during the development of the new courthouse.
“To see the building come through to fruition is very exciting. This is truly a building that the citizens of Duval County can be proud of and when they walk through, they have ownership,” Day said.
The building, at 501 W. Adams St., is scheduled to open Monday.
The old courthouse at 330 E. Bay St. closed May 18 and the new courthouse was supposed to have opened May 29.
Failed fire suppression system checks pushed back the opening date, but those problems have been addressed and Cooper is looking forward to the opening.
“I feel 100 percent safe in this building,” said Cooper, referring to the fire suppression system.
“Everyone is really excited to get going and I think this little delay has maybe made it more exiting in a way because everyone has had a chance to sit back and get really away from the old and get ready to come to the new,” said Cooper.
Judges and staff have been training in the new courthouse this week. They plan to have plenty of help available to guide the public through the 800,000-square-foot building that spans seven floors.
“We have information kiosks on the first floor and bailiffs on each floor to assist people in finding where they need to go,” said Cooper.
Cooper said the courtrooms were designed to serve multiple purposes with the future in mind.
“One of those ideas is to make the courthouse completely criminal and civil courts and move family and juvenile courts somewhere else, but that is a decision for far down the road and long after I’m gone,” said Cooper.
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