Judicial Center Annex & Courthouse Renovations

Crawford County Commissioners

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CLIENT GOALS

Crawford County government decided to assess their facilities as part of a county government reorganization effort.  Since the 1954 renovation of the original County Courthouse, county government had grown and personnel was scattered over several sites creating a decentralized employee workforce, inefficiencies in leased office space, poor working conditions, and a critical lack of security for court functions. Inadequate parking was making it difficult for citizens to transact county business and was interfering with court operations.

SOLUTIONS

To assist the County, WMF sent teams of professionals to discuss the needs of each department. The design team carefully documented all existing spaces and support areas including storage requirements, and then synthesized a new program of desired spaces, adjacencies, and support requirements. Multiple schemes were created for discussion with constituencies, and public presentations were prepared for community input, consensus building and buy-in.  WMF’s programming and conceptual design and cost estimating efforts combined with community taskforce involvement resulted in the recommendation to construct a new judicial center for court functions, a new public safety center, and phased renovations to the existing Courthouse for administrative offices all within a defined budget.

RESULTS

Phase One included the construction of the Public Safety Center and the construction of a four story, 60,000 SF Judicial Center annex to house the Court of Common Pleas and its related activities. The new facility addressed the Commissioners concerns size and cost, safety, and technology. The building includes 3 full-size courtrooms with related offices, and as offices for the Clerk of Courts, Prothonotary, Sheriff, and District Attorney. Secured circulation routes were provided at all levels of the building to separate user groups (witnesses, defendants, judges, etc.) and restrict access to sensitive areas.  Special features include an interior sally port for secured prisoner transport, central command with complete audio/visual monitoring capabilities, and individual and group holding cells. The overall facility incorporated blast and ballistic-rated assemblies where necessary.  The project was completed under budget and two months ahead of schedule.