Courthouse site gets a second look
San Benito County’s next courthouse may be downtown.
The Judicial Council of California announced Tuesday that it
would begin pursuing two courthouse sites, the Flynn Road location
next to the county jail that it initially selected in February and
the area now occupied by the abandoned Fremont School, at Monterey
and Fourth streets.
Courthouse site gets a second look
San Benito County’s next courthouse may be downtown.
The Judicial Council of California announced Tuesday that it would begin pursuing two courthouse sites, the Flynn Road location next to the county jail that it initially selected in February and the area now occupied by the abandoned Fremont School, at Monterey and Fourth streets.
The downtown site was the one most highly recommended by a committee of local officials commissioned by the state to find suitable sites for a new courthouse building. The committee tagged the Flynn Road site as an alternate location.
The state made its choice for Flynn Road, in part, due to the need for a seismic survey on the Fremont School site.
That location is now owned by the city of Hollister. City officials promised to donate the site for a courthouse, and further promised to fund a seismic study, estimated to cost between $200,000-$250,000.
This week’s decision to reconsider both sites was welcome news to Gil Solorio, the local court executive officer.
“The state initially made a business decision that may have … ignored the importance of the downtown site to this community,” Solorio said. “I don’t think this is a slam against the state … but the community had a right to stand up and say, ‘you don’t understand the importance of this to the downtown community.'”
The downtown site is seen by many as pivotal to the long-term economic viability of Hollister’s downtown core. After the state announced its preference for the Flynn Road site in February, the county Chamber of Commerce, the county Bar Association and the Hollister Downtown Association led a parade of opponents that included local governmental agencies. The county Board of Supervisors attempted to schedule a public meeting with state officials.
The downtown site is almost adjacent to the court’s present location, one it has occupied for more than a century.
“On analysis of the downtown site, the state staff determined that extensive geologic due diligence was required for that location,” the state said in its announcement. That, and the prospect of as much as a yearlong delay due to the survey, influenced the initial decision to move the court out of downtown.
“On careful reconsideration, the [Administrative Office of the Courts] has decided that it is in the best long-term interest of the state and the community in San Benito to provide an opportunity for state acquisition of the downtown site.”
If the downtown site is going to work, the state warned that Hollister and county officials must work together to fund and conduct the seismic survey quickly.
If a site is not acquired by June 30, 2009, project money may be withheld by the state.
Plans call for the new court center to be 36,500 square feet, constructed at a cost of $32.5 million. Officials agree that the current superior court, built in 1962, is outdated, lacking adequate security and impossibly cramped.
When the state considered funding court construction in 2006, San Benito emerged as a high priority.
“We need a new courthouse now,” Solorio said. “The court prefers the downtown location along with the project advisory team.”
The local advisory team was comprised of Judges Harry Tobias and Steven Sanders, Solorio, Supervisor Don Marcus, Hollister Mayor Brad Pike, Hollister City Manager Clint Quilter, San Juan Bautista Mayor Priscilla Hill and Susan Thompson, county chief administrative officer.
