Tuesday, July 20, 2010 • Groundbreaking ceremony held for new courthouse

Publisher’s note: This story originally appeared in the Tuesday, July 20, 2010 edition of the Lassen County Times.

After several years of planning and design, a groundbreaking ceremony signaled the start of  the on the new Superior Court of Lassen County.

On Wednesday, July 14, city and county officials, courthouse staff and those involved in the design and construction of the new Superior Court of Lassen County gathered for the  ceremony at the courthouse’s new home at 2610 Riverside Drive.

According to a press release from the Judicial Council of California and the Administrative Office of the Courts, the new three-courtroom, 42,300-square-foot facility will replace the Historic Courthouse, Court Annex and the Access to Justice Self-Help Center.

The historic courtroom and annex are currently located on South Lassen Street in Uptown Susanville.

“The new courthouse will provide enhanced security and more space, enabling the court to improve access and services,” the press release said.

According to the press release, the scheduled date of completion is scheduled for winter 2012.

The groundbreaking ceremony began with the presentation of colors by the Marine Corps League, High Sierra Detachment 1068. Debra Sokol, wife of presiding Lassen County Superior Court Judge F. Donald Sokol, sang the national anthem and was accompanied by General Dick Bendix who played a drum roll.

Not only did the ceremony signify the start of construction, it was a time to recognize the efforts that went into planning and designing the new courthouse.

The audience heard from featured speakers including Judge Sokol, retired presiding Lassen Superior Court Judge Stephen Bradbury, city of Susanville Mayor Lino Callegari, vice chairman of the Lassen County Board of Supervisors Jim Chapman, Robert Uvalle, manager of the Office of Court Construction and the Administrative Office of the Courts and Nicholas Docous of Lionakis principal.

Lionakis is the architect. An award is in progress for Clark and Sullivan Construction and Turner Construction Company is providing the construction management.

The cost to build the facility is $38.9 million and is not funded by taxpayer money.

According to Sokol, the courthouse is only the fourth courthouse to be completed under the Trial Courts Facilities Act of 2002. Sokol said 15 courthouses were authorized to be constructed under the act and courthouses in Merced, Fresno and Portola have been completed.

Bradbury shared the history behind the new courthouse. He described it as an “interesting road,” that began about 10 years ago when he was an advisory member for the Judicial Council of California. He was talking with Administrative Director of the Courts Bill Vickrey and shared about an interest in building a new courthouse in Lassen County.

Bradbury said Vickrey has been a very important part in the project. A community in a rural area would technically not have a lot of clout in the legislature, but Bradbury said Vickrey designed a methodology where courts were selected on merit.

After what Bradbury described as an “unbelievable amount of studies,” Lassen County was identified as having one of six neediest courts in the state.

He also talked about the planning stages for the courthouse.

“This project is designed, thought out and developed and it’s going to be first class,” Bradbury said of the courthouse.

Bradbury expressed his respect for the staff under Vickrey at the administrative office of the courts and everyone connected with the project has done a “wonderful, wonderful job.”

Callegari said there are buildings that identify Susanville and the new courthouse will also be an identifiable facility.

He shared about his time in law enforcement before the courthouse annex was built. Callegari said two deputies were assigned to the district attorney who was wheel chair bound. Callegari said the deputies carried the DA up and down the stairs for court.

“Now this (the new courthouse) will meet all the needs of the people. Every person who needs service should have access to the building,” Callegari said.

Chapman shared about the history behind the courthouses in Lassen County.

According to Chapman the first courthouse was built on Courthouse Square in approximately 1867 and served the needs of the community for about 50 years.

Chapman said the current courthouse was built in approximately 1917 and has served the community for approximately 100 years.

With that said, Chapman said he is confident to say the new courthouse should last a minimum of 200 years.

“Based on that, I would say that those of us who are assembled here today are truly enjoying a once in a lifetime experience. Even probably more rare than seeing Haley’s comet fly by,” he said.

On behalf of the board of supervisors, Chapman said it was his privilege to extend the board’s congratulations to the team who has put the project together.

Based on recent presentations given to the board, Chapman said, “I’m extremely impressed and really pleased and I’m really excited about what this really means to the next chapter of community life that we are going to be seeing.”

According to Chapman the old courtroom on South Lassen Street will be preserved and protected and maintained for generations to come. He said the courtroom will be available for use if need be as well as ceremonial functions.

Other county offices not related to the courts also operate out of the courthouse. When the courthouse is relocated to its new site, Chapman said the space will be reallocated to those county departments.

He said long-term plans are to renovate the space and bring other county offices to that facility.

“It was somewhat of a bittersweet pill to accept the idea that the courts would no longer have its day-to-day functioning at that site, but its presence will always be there and the heritage and the history of the last 146 years of the courts at that location will be preserved for generations to come,” Chapman said.

Attorney John Lawson closed the ceremony playing “America the Beautiful,” on the trumpet.