Stephen Swinburne, project manager from Gilbane Building Company, stands at the top of the main stairs that look out onto Butterfield Blvd. at the courthouse.
Lynn Davis, right, and Francisco Cabrial, from Beaubois based out of Canada, put up cherry panels inside one of the six courtrooms. The whole wall behind the judges and clerk area, and the witness stand, will be lined with the paneling.
Construction workers finish the column enclosures, left, while electricians power up the dampers in the large atrium of the new courthouse. Downstairs to the right is the clerk's area and to the left is the children's waiting area and the jury assembly room.
The new South County Courthouse, scheduled to open in the fall, will provide a host of legal services to the community.
Family law - divorces and child custody proceedings - will be a new service to South County, thanks to the $52.6-million facility.
The project has been under construction since January 2005. Rainy weather was responsible for several delays, pushing back completion, but project manager Ken Rato is predicting an opening this fall.
The courthouse sits on eight acres of land near the corner of Butterfield Boulevard and Diana Avenue. The 73,000-square-foot building houses six courtrooms, jury rooms and an underground holding area for defendants. A second 17,000-square-foot building will be home to the probation department, public defenders and district attorneys.
The new facility came about through a 1999 compromise between the city of Morgan Hill and the county over the city's redevelopment agency, which diverts local property taxes from county coffers.
The former San Martin courthouse was deemed unfit for occupancy due to mold problems, forcing the judicial process to take place in portable courtrooms.
The funding for the facility is mostly provided by Santa Clara County, but approximately $7 million came from the RDA to buy the land and defray other costs.
Attorney Sheila Peterson, president of the South County Bar Association, said the six new courtrooms will fill up almost as soon as the facility opens its doors.
"We will have a full family-law calendar, which is something we haven't had in the South County before," she said. "It's very positive."
Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Susan Bernardini has been assigned as family law judge. Cases will be assigned to the new courthouse based on a form that requires the petitioner to list their city of residence. One of the six courtrooms in the facility will be dedicated to the family-law calendar.
"I'm looking forward to being in the new building," Deputy District Attorney Mark Hood said. "It's a beautiful design, a wonderful location, and it's going to bring a little more vibrancy to the downtown."
The facility was designed to accommodate growth in the area, so despite a possible increase in the need for family-law services, as well as traffic and criminal court needs, the courthouse should be able to handle an increase in population in the South County.
Marilyn Dubil Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. Reach her at (408) 779-4106 ext. 202 or send her an email.
