Another Florida county with courthouse problems

[thelakelander]

Except this scaled down one in Fort Lauderdale could rise 17 stories (instead of 25) and not take up seven blocks.  I wonder why they refuse to consider going horizontal like Jax? 

Scale back plans for new courthouse, task force tells Broward

By Scott Wyman | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
4:44 PM EDT, April 3, 2009
Broward County Click here for restaurant inspection reports should scale back plans for a new courthouse and pay for construction without seeking a property tax increase from voters, a task force decided Friday.

The panel of judges, lawyers and elected officials recommended a 17-story tower be built on a parking lot next to current aging courthouse in downtown Fort Lauderdale Is your Fort Lauderdale restaurant clean? - Click Here.. The project would cost $328 million, compared with the $510 million plan that voters rejected in 2006.

To pay for the court tower, the panel suggests that county commissioners delay construction of a new jail and raise property taxes over the next five years as existing debts are paid off. Under the proposal, construction could begin in 2011 with the current courthouse demolished after the new one opens in 2014.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/sfl-040309-courthouse,0,4103819.story

[stjr]

Lake, below is the full article.

I noticed they can live with 675,000 s.f.  At last count, we are at 800,000 s.f.  I thought Broward County had at least twice the population of Duval.  How can they serve their numbers with so much less square footage?  Also, their estimated costs comes to about $486/s.f. ($328 million/675,000 s.f.) vs. our current estimate, including all the wasted money, at about $438/s.f. ($350 million/800,000 s.f.).  Either Broward is getting ripped or Duval is about to get snowed again!  Yikes!  Time for another grand jury investigation?!

sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-courthouse-replace-040409sbapr04,0,6522693.story
South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com
Task force recommends scaled-back plan for new Broward County courthouse
Property tax hike needed wouldn't go on ballot

By Scott Wyman

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

April 4, 2009

Broward County should scale back plans for a new courthouse and pay for construction without putting a property tax increase on the ballot, a task force decided Friday.

The panel of judges, lawyers and elected officials recommended a 17-story tower be built on a parking lot next to current, aging courthouse in downtown Fort Lauderdale. The courthouse has been plagued by broken elevators and burst pipes and is the subject of lawsuits from several judicial assistants alleging that rampant mold has harmed their health.

The project now being proposed to county commissioners would cost $328 million, down from the $510 million plan that voters rejected in 2006.

To pay for the court tower, the panel suggests commissioners delay construction of another jail and raise property taxes without voter approval over the next five years as existing debts are paid off. They also want the state Legislature to increase a court facilities fee charged to people convicted of crimes.

Construction could begin in 2011. The current courthouse would be demolished when the new one opens about three years later. A new parking garage also is part of the plan.

"The facility is out of date and needs to be replaced," Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler said. "The county has been trying to patch it together, and now we're focused on a courthouse that will serve us well into the future."

The task force report will go to the County Commission in the next couple of weeks for a final decision. Broward Mayor Stacy Ritter created the panel after a pipe burst in December, flooding the courthouse and temporarily closing it.

The proposed courthouse would be 675,000 square feet rather than the 893,000 square feet suggested in the 2006 plans.

A 10-courtroom addition would be delayed, and more courtrooms would be shared. A new satellite court likely would wait until at least 2025.

County administrators said about $36 million a year in debt for other projects will come off the tax rolls by 2013. At most, the new court proposal would require $12.9 million a year in taxes to be levied. About $8.9 million would be needed if the Legislature raises the court facilities fee from $15 a violation to $30.

Commissioners have the authority to impose the property taxes without a referendum. Supporters of a new courthouse have worried whether they could persuade voters to support the project.

[thelakelander]

Duval is about to get snowed again.  Unless the project's scope gets reduced, I'd bet the house that it doesn't come in at what's been told to the public.

[reednavy]

Peyton should just be drug down a gravel road for a couple of blocks over this.

This was actually one of the first things I read in the T-U when I moved here in JUNE 06!

[thelakelander]

It was "under construction" when I moved here in 2003.

[tufsu1]

I noticed they can live with 675,000 s.f.  At last count, we are at 800,000 s.f.  I thought Broward County had at least twice the population of Duval.  How can they serve their numbers with so much less square footage?  Also, their estimated costs comes to about $486/s.f. ($328 million/675,000 s.f.) vs. our current estimate, including all the wasted money, at about $438/s.f. ($350 million/800,000 s.f.).  Either Broward is getting ripped or Duval is about to get snowed again!  Yikes!  Time for another grand jury investigation?!

as the article says, they are delaying a 10-court addition and building a satellite court facility down the road....there were talks in Jax. a few years ago about staging construction, but the decision was made to build everything at one time to save $ in the long run.

[heights unknown]

Looks like they're going vertical; 17 stories is not a lot but I'll bet you they are making optimum use of land space versus waste as depicted and shown on the plans for our new Courthouse. How many stories is our Courthouse?

Heights Unknown

[thelakelander]

The Sam Gibbons Federal Courthouse in Tampa is 17 stories.  However, because courtrooms have tall ceilings, its just as tall as a typical 35 story building, standing at 375ft.  Here are the heights on a few other courthouse buildings in the state.

416ft - 23 floors - Orange County Courthouse (1997)

360ft - 28 floors - Miami-Dade County Courthouse (1928)

277ft - 14 floors - Bryan Simpson Federal Courthouse (2002)

188ft - 7 floors - proposed Duval County Courthouse (2050?)**

** - The central pediment is 188ft.  The actual seven story structure is 140ft.

[stjr]

as the article says, they are delaying a 10-court addition and building a satellite court facility down the road....there were talks in Jax. a few years ago about staging construction, but the decision was made to build everything at one time to save $ in the long run.

A 10-courtroom addition would be delayed, and more courtrooms would be shared. A new satellite court likely would wait until at least 2025.

"Down the road" is in the year 2025!  In the mean time, what they build will be less than our square feet and serve a double or more population.  By 2025, Broward will have a far larger population if history is any indicator so I don't think their ratio of square feet to population served could be expected to change much even then.  I stand by my observations.