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Posted Apr 4, 2010, 2:01 PM
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Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Country Club Park, Greater Coronado, Midtown, Phoenix, Az
Posts: 4,610
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http://www.azcentral.com/community/p...urt-tower.html
Quote:
16-story court-tower effort on schedule, under budget
9 comments by Yvonne Wingett - Apr. 4, 2010 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
Construction crews are close to topping out the 16-story court tower near First Avenue and Madison Street in downtown Phoenix.
Despite all the politicking and failed legal fights over the project, drywall is going up and the last steel beam is scheduled to be placed later this month.
The Maricopa County Criminal Court Tower will house 22 courtrooms when it's completed in less than two years and another 10 will be shelled for future use.
At $340 million, the court tower is the most expensive project in county history - and so far, it's on schedule and $6 million under budget, construction managers and county officials said.
Last week, the Board of Supervisors unanimously awarded $37 million in contracts to Gilbane Building Co. and Ryan Cos. The board also moved forward on a $276,000 plan to prepare for the demolition of the First Avenue Jail and to create a plaza that links the old court buildings to the new tower.
Over the last several months, supervisors have huddled with construction officials to consider whether to install an escalator to link the tower to existing court buildings.
"I'm real proud," Supervisor Max Wilson said. "The prices came down a little bit than what we had anticipated. And when you think of what we started with - a hole in the ground - and where we are today, it's a pretty good accomplishment."
The supervisors started planning the tower 12 years ago to handle future growth in the criminal-justice system. For years, they stashed away money for the project. A decade later, in 2007, the board authorized $340 million to design and build the project.
Not long after, Sheriff Joe Arpaio and County Attorney Andrew Thomas publicly criticized the project, saying the money should be spent on floating the county through the recession. The pair looked into legal contracts awarded for the project and later accused the Superior Court of blocking a grand-jury inquiry on the subject.
A judge disqualified Thomas from the investigation, saying he had a conflict of interest. The pair later used the project as ammunition in a broad federal racketeering complaint that Thomas later dropped.
Superior Court handles about 40,000 felony cases a year. Court officials expect that number to grow over the next decade, although the trend has recently leveled off amid the economic downturn, Court Administrator Marcus Reinkensmeyer said.
The tower will include a large jury assembly room for the entire criminal-court complex, state-of-the-art technology and separate waiting rooms for victims and witnesses.
So far, the county has spent about $89 million on the project, including construction, architectural and engineering fees, furniture, insurance, and project management, said Abe Thomas, court-tower project executive.
If approved, the county could spend another $6 million to demolish the First Avenue Jail and rebuild the plaza. That building is almost 50 years old, filled with asbestos and was closed as a jail in 1999, County Manager David Smith said.
Several sheriff's offices are housed in the building, including a 911 call center, telecommunications, a crime lab and a records section, which houses warrants.
Gerard Sheridan, chief of custody for the Sheriff's Office, said moving those offices without disrupting work would be complicated and costly.
"It's quite complex," he said. "Moving something like communications, you can't just say, 'OK, you're going to be down for a week.' You need an instantaneous switchover from one function to the next. That's costly."
County officials are looking for space for the offices, either in downtown Phoenix or near the Durango campus in southwest Phoenix.
The tower should be completed by fall 2011 and opened in February 2012.
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I think thats the 1st Ive heard of possibly demolishing the jail. Lets hope it happens, that building (by necessity) is a fortress and a plaza would certainly be an improvement. Lets hope its not retardly designed like most of our public spaces.
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