On Friday, the State Public Works Board approved the acquisition of a six-acre property at 675 Lakeport Blvd. as the site of the new 51,000-square-foot building, which will be home to the Lake County Superior Court.
“A replacement for the overburdened and aged courthouse in Lakeport has been identified as one of the most-needed in the entire state,” said Assistant Presiding Judge Steve Hedstrom of the Lake County Superior Court in a Friday statement. “Our new and carefully planned Lakeport courthouse, scheduled to open in 2014, will serve the public very well for years to come.”
The property is located just below the Lake County Chamber of Commerce's offices at Vista Point, within the city limits.
The location will give the new courthouse good access from Highway 29 and Lakeport Boulevard, and be close to services that the Judicial Council of California's Administrative Office of the Courts said will make it convenient for court users.
The courthouse on N. Forbes Street in Lakeport, completed in 1968, currently houses four courtrooms, the court clerk's offices, jury commissioner's office, judges' chambers and jury deliberation rooms, and other associated court facilities on the fourth floor, with just over 15,000 square feet of space. The rest of the building is occupied by various county offices.
In 2008 the state ranked Lakeport's court facilities as an “immediate need” for replacement, finding them unsafe, difficult to access and crowded. Lakeport was listed among eight locations given priority funding because of those concerns.
The project previously was estimated to cost $71.7 million, but the Administrative Office of the Courts' Offices of Court Construction and Management's most recent estimate is approximately $53,235,000.
The new courthouse is one of 41 projects funded by Senate Bill 1407, which finances critically needed courthouse construction, renovation and repair through a portion of judicial branch fees, penalties and assessments, without reliance on the state’s General Fund, the Administrative Office of the Courts reported.
The Administrative Office of the Courts said it will acquire the site from its owners, the Seregow Trust and Assembly of God Church.
The State Public Works Board's approval clears the way for close of escrow on the Lakeport Boulevard property, which the Administrative Office of the Courts said is expected to take place by March 1.
Also under way is the building's architectural design. The state has hired Santa Rosa-based TLCD Architecture and national firm Shepley Bulfinch for the design aspect.
The state said the project's architects are developing test fits of the building on the site, and design is expected to proceed through mid-2012, with construction scheduled to start in fall 2012.
The courthouse project is scheduled for completion in mid-2014, the state said.
The courthouse's draft initial study and negative declaration was presented in a September meeting in Lakeport.
On Tuesday, the Lakeport City Council approved a memorandum of understanding with the Administrative Office of the Courts which addresses city concerns over the project, from visual impacts to hydrology, sewer and water impacts, and infrastructure, as Lake County News has reported.
A state representative assured the council Tuesday that they planned to work with the city and do their best to address the city's concerns.
More information about the project is on the California Courts Web site at www.courtinfo.ca.gov/programs/occm/projects_lake_lakeport.htm.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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