Pima County’s Consolidated Justice Court will have new digs next week.
Beginning Monday, folks with county Justice Court business will have to visit the new building at 240 N. Stone Ave., which opens its doors at 8 a.m.
The long-awaited move means courts will shut their offices at the historic Pima County Courthouse at 115 N. Church Ave., as well as its auxiliary space at 160 N. Stone Ave.
All county Justice Court services will be located under one roof, something that hasn’t happened in 18 years, Court Administrator Douglas Kooi said in a press release.
Space wasn’t the only reason for the move, he added.
“The original building was not designed with modern security, technology or access in mind,” Kooi said. “This new building lets us use the latest in audio and video technology and presentation equipment, and it is completely accessible to all members of the public. The old building was difficult to navigate, especially for persons with disabilities.”
The historic courthouse will temporarily house the county’s senior administration and Board of Supervisors, while the 10th and 11th floors of the current administration building undergo asbestos abatement.
Monday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony will cap an 11-year struggle to get the building up and running.
Originally planned as a joint city-county courthouse in 2004, when voters passed a $76 million bond for the project, the two entities never agreed on terms.
Despite lacking a firm commitment from the city, the county moved forward with construction in early 2012. Later that year, the county asked the city to pay its share of the cost overrides and even offered to lend the city $21 million.
Since the city didn’t have money to pay for either a courthouse or a loan, it made one final offer to the county, to lease space in the building but not pay for any extra costs. The county rejected the offer in November 2012.
Even though the city pulled out, the two sides never formalized a contract over the project, so the county doesn’t have a legal remedy to recapture its losses.
In addition to quarreling with the city, the county encountered numerous unanticipated expenses, such as relocating 1,400 corpses, that ballooned the cost to about $143 million.
