Ottawa County’s brand new courthouse may look familiar to some of the area’s oldest residents.
The new courthouse rises next to the
existing courthouse on Washington Avenue in Grand Haven. The building –
a completely new structure more than two years in the making – is
modeled after the county’s historic, turn-of-the-century courthouse that
was demolished to make way for a new construction in the 1960s,
according to the county’s project coordinator Mark Scheerhorn.
“It
has a cupola on the top, and the woodwork gives it the historic feel,”
Scheerhorn said. "It has that look of a traditional Michigan
courthouse."
Ottawa County may have taken a cue from
the past with some design features on the future courthouse, but many
of the components are current and environmentally-friendly. From
recycling construction scraps to the slate made of recycled rubber on
the building’s exterior, Scheerhorn said the courthouse is on track to
be LEED certified.
Modern
security is a key feature of the new courthouse. Scheerhorn said there
will be a secure holding facility for county jail inmates awaiting
court appearances.
“They’ll never cross paths with the
public or employees,” he said. There will also be security screening,
similar to that found at airports, for people entering the courthouse.
The new building is 117,000 square
feet, compared to the current 40-year-old courthouse’s 67,000 square
feet. The county is financing the $22.5 million project with a $10
million bond and designated county funds.
Scheerhorn said construction on the
courthouse began in June 2007, and is scheduled to be completed in
October. County employees will move into the building in
July. Demolition of the existing courthouse will take place once the
project is complete.
Owen-Ames-Kimball is handling the construction. Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr & Huber is the architect.
Source: Mark Scheerhorn, Ottawa County Courthouse project coordinator
Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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