Market: Civic + Judicial

Excerpts: City of Ukiah officials were joined by representatives of the Pinoleville Pomo Nation this week for a ceremonial ground-breaking of construction on a new Mendocino County Courthouse behind the Railroad Depot on East Perkins Street.

The Judicial Council describes the Ukiah project as “in the Immediate Need priority group and consequently is one of the highest priority trial court capital-outlay projects for the judicial branch.”

The building specifications provided by state officials have it containing seven courtrooms in a total of 81,169 square-feet. The “Design-Build Entity is Hensel Phelps | Fentress Architects.

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Largest Civic Project Ever in Mendocino County

Excerpt: It will take two years for construction crews to complete a public project that is expected to pump millions of dollars into the surrounding community, and in effect expand the commercial core of Ukiah with promises of new retail developments and infrastructure improvements.

“There’s no doubt that we are at a unique point in time where the decisions we make today will dramatically shape the future of our downtown,” said Deputy City Manager Shannon Riley.

The scale of the new courthouse project is monumental:

• The new courthouse will embrace the latest technologies and meet national standards for ‘green’ public buildings. It will replace a 1950s-era county-owned building which is dated in appearance and function. The current courthouse is out of compliance with current safety, seismic and accessibility codes and deemed by federal officials as a high-risk building because of seismic concerns. The Judicial Council of California after years of delays ranked the new Mendocino County Courthouse as an “immediate need.”
• It dwarfs other private and public improvements locally past and present. The state funded project has been 20 years in the making, a stop and go process that survived funding crises, multiple delays, and public debates about its location.

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Excerpt: Steven White, who grew up in Chapel Hill and graduated from N.C. State University, is a principal and Washington, D.C., studio director for Fentress Architects, the designer of the additions. White “views each project as a chance to blend history, community and sustainability and to shape an urban landscape that enriches both people and the environment”…

The new courthouse will have a drop-off area and secure entrance for the public on North Grove Street. Parking will be in a large surface lot on the north side of the building. The courthouse addition contains seven courtrooms for District and Superior court and other judicial proceedings, improved security for judges and staff and segregated access corridors for jail inmates. 

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