SAN FRANCISCO — The State Public Works Board (SPWB) on Friday approved the acquisition of a site in Lakeport for the new courthouse for the Superior Court of Lake County. The six-acre property at 675 Lakeport Boulevard is within city limits near downtown Lakeport, close to services that will make it convenient for court users and has good access from Highway 29 and Lakeport Boulevard.
The AOC will acquire the site from its owners, the Seregow Trust and Assembly of God Church. SPWB approval clears the way for close of escrow on the property, expected by March 1, as well as for architectural design.
“A replacement for the overburdened and aged courthouse in Lakeport has been identified as one of the most-needed in the entire state. Our new and carefully planned Lakeport courthouse, scheduled to open in 2014, will serve the public very well for years to come,” Assistant Presiding Judge Steve Hedstrom of the Superior Court of Lake County said.
The proposed project will house four courtrooms in approximately 50,000 square feet. It will replace the court”s space on the fourth floor of the Lakeport Courthouse. This shared-use building, constructed in 1968, is overcrowded and has significant security problems, severe accessibility deficiencies, and many other physical problems, preventing the court from providing safe and efficient court services to the public.
The AOC is proceeding with the architectural design, for which it has engaged Santa Rosa?based TLCD Architecture and national firm Shepley Bulfinch. The 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 new courthouse project was ranked as an “immediate need” in the judicial branch”s capital-outlay plan and is among the branch”s highest-priority infrastructure projects. It 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.
More information about the project is on the California Courts website at www.courtinfo.ca.gov/programs/occm/projects_lake_lakeport.htm.
