Employees at the new courthouse appear to be enjoying the location of their new workplace, but downtown business owners haven't seen the sales boost they hoped for when the facility opened.
"We've seen a few customers a week from the courthouse," said Brad Jones, co-owner of BookSmart on Second Street. "It's better than nothing, but not as much as we hoped."
About 130 county employees work at the South County Courthouse and adjacent Judicial Services building at the intersection of Diana Avenue and Butterfield Boulevard. The facility opened April 6.
Whether they're wearing suits and strolling at a deliberate pace, or feverishly pacing around downtown blocks for exercise during their morning and afternoon breaks, those employees have shown a strong presence to observers of the local commercial area, even if that presence hasn't translated into a surge of sales.
Perhaps more aggressive marketing would be helpful, suggested Jones and other downtown business people. But obstacles such as county ordinances that apply to the courthouse property stand in the way, preventing business owners from handing out coupons or flyers at the site.
Jack Edwards, manager of Fuzia on Monterey Street, said his lunch and post-work cocktail sales are up a little bit with the growing appearance of attorneys and judges at the restaurant.
"(But) there hasn't been a huge effect," Edwards said.
Jorge Briones, executive director of the Morgan Hill Downtown Association, estimates that including the employees, up to 600 people a day visit the courthouse. In general, business owners haven't reported a windfall of increasing sales.
"When the courthouse first opened we did see a little bit of a spike (in lunch sales) that's maintained," Briones said. "As the courthouse has grown with the numbers of people, we haven't seen that (go up anymore)."
He said the lack of visibility of downtown from the courthouse is the chief reason there hasn't been a boost in sales. The Downtown Association has tried to eliminate that obstacle by targeting the new courthouse for marketing. It has supplied the jurors' room with lists of downtown dining establishments and retail options. It has worked with the city to improve directional signs to direct people from the courthouse to the downtown area - a jaunt the city facilitated last year with the opening of a walkway from the parking lot, across the railroad tracks and into downtown via Third Street.
The association continues to work with the city to install downtown directory kiosks and more signs, Briones said. He noted that some businesses' idea to station their own employees in the courthouse parking lot with menus and flyers failed due to enforcement of county permit requirements.
The city does not have an up-to-date receipt of sales tax revenues that might indicate if the courthouse has provided a boost since April, according to City Manager Ed Tewes.
Senior employees of Santa Clara County Superior Court and the District Attorney's office say they enjoy the new courthouse's proximity to downtown Morgan Hill, which is far more convenient and more comfortable than the complex of modular buildings in which court was formerly held in San Martin.
Judge Gregory Saldivar, who lives in San Jose, said the more he has gotten used to his new surroundings, the more he has ventured downtown to Monterey Street.
"It took me a while to get acclimated," Saldivar said. "I've started to walk downtown every day, to get exercise. And I enjoy just walking around and checking things out."
Having worked at the previous South County court facility for seven years, Saldivar said he now shops more frequently in Morgan Hill. He buys cigars at the Morgan Hill Tobacco Co., groceries at Nob Hill and fills up his gas tank.
"I love this area. It's worth the drive to come down here to work," Saldivar said.
He added he is looking forward to the new Third Street Promenade, a remodeled pedestrian mall on which construction just started last week. "That will be killer," Saldivar said.
Stephen Lowney, supervising deputy district attorney for South County, said he walks downtown "two or three times a week" for lunch. On Friday he met his wife and children at El Rincon Mexican restaurant on Second Street at lunch time. He added he enjoys the variety offered by numerous downtown eateries. Lowney, who lives in Gilroy, also shops at Poppy's for barbecue supplies, gets his hair cut downtown, and buys books for his kids at BookSmart.
And since moving to the new Morgan Hill facility, Lowney signed up his family for a membership at the Centennial Recreation Center.
Situated near the train station at the intersection of Third and Depot streets, Stan Mojaisky has his finger on the pulse of the courthouse-downtown relationship. He is the co-owner of the Joocee Dogs hot dog stand, which just opened about a month ago, and anyone who walks between the courthouse and downtown Morgan Hill passes by his shop.
Initially interviewed about two weeks ago, Mojaisky said he hadn't noticed any significant business from the courthouse. However, Monday he said the courthouse associates seem to have started venturing out more.
He speculated that the courthouse staff might have just started breaking the routines they became used to at the San Martin facility, such as bringing lunches from home.
"There's more employees coming over and giving us advice on what they'd like us to sell," Mojaisky said. "The challenge is allowing the time to figure out what they want."
Michael Moore Michael Moore covers county and law enforcement issues for the Morgan Hill Times. Reach him at (408) 779-4106, ext. 202, or mmoore@morganhilltimes.com.
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