Duval County Courthouse

PROJECT TEAM:

Senior Project Manager: Dave Schneider, P.E.

Owners' Consultant: Spillis Candela DJMM

Design/Build Consultant: Turner Construction with KBJ Architects

CLICK TO VIEW:

CURRENT PROJECT STATUS
COURTHOUSE RENDERINGS
BUDGET
PROJECT HISTORY
COURTHOUSE ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW COMMITTEE (CARC)
 

STATUS (current Feb. 15, 2012):

View Courthouse Renderings
 

• Notice-to-Proceed with construction was issued May 12, 2009.
• Construction is 85% complete and proceeding on schedule. Current work is mostly finishes – millwork, tile, carpet, painting, ceilings, etc.
• Work is proceeding on Audio/Visual and FF&E. 
• Discussions to reduce the overall Courthouse program budget are underway.  The City Council's Courthouse Oversight Committee has been engaged; click here to view meeting minutes/agenda.
• Substantial Completion scheduled date is May 14, 2012.  The move will begin immediately following closure of the current courthouse, scheduled for 5 p.m. on Friday, May 18.  The new Courthouse will open for regular business on Tuesday, May 29, at 8 a.m.
• The Public Defender's Office completed its relocation to its permanent offices in Jake Godbold Building the week of Oct. 17, 2011.  Minor renovations remain to be done.
• Demolition, remediation and other prepatory work continues in the Old Federal Courthouse for the State Attorney's Office space.  The Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) was received as scheduled in December but remains under consideration.  The Mayor's Office has proposed elimination of the elevated walkway between the new Courthouse and State Attorney's Office.

TOTAL PROGRAM BUDGET:

The entire courthouse program budget is set by ordinance at $350 million. This figure includes $64.3 million spent to-date on property acquisition, utility relocation, and previous project efforts.

The budget covers expenditures for the unified court facility, renovations to the Old Federal Courthouse for the State Attorney's Office, and renovations to the 5th and 6th floor of the Ed Ball Building for the Public Defender.

Funding Sources:

Better Jacksonville Plan: $211 million
($190 million plus $21 million from 'vertical contigency')

Court Facilities Trust Fund: $811,000

Court Documents Facility: $3,397,000

Traffic Fine Surcharge: $48,292,000

COJ Capital Project Funding: $86.5 million

PROJECT HISTORY:

Duval County opened its current courthouse on East Bay Street over 50 years ago, in a time before consolidation and when the entire county's population was just over 450,000. It is only the fourth courthouse in the county's 175-year history.

In 2000, when the Better Jacksonville Plan passed, Duval County's population had swelled to over three-quarters of a million people. A county's judicial requirements directly correspond to its population, so while the number of people using the courthouse had grown significantly, the facility itself had not.

The original Better Jacksonville Plan work program earmarked $190 million for the courthouse project. That figure was increased by $21 million through funding from the BJP Vertical Contingency line item in the work program.

The initial effort to construct the courthouse was stopped in 2003. The city elected to pursue a design/build approach, and ultimately contracted with Turner Construction/KBJ Architects in 2008 to complete the project.

COURTHOUSE ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW COMMITTEE:

The CARC and its membership were established in Section 5 of Ordinance 2004-1339 and has been carried forward in the new courthouse legislation, 2007-401. The list below contains the persons currently holding the member positions named in the ordinance.

--CARC CHAIR: Jim Rinaman (Chair, Mayor's Courthouse Advisory Committee)

--Hon. Don Moran (Chief Judge)

--Jeffrey Beck, P.E. (Acting Director of Public Works)

--Hon. Stephen Joost (Council President)

--District 4 Council Member Don Redman (District Council Member of the Courthouse Site)

--Dr. Ron Salem (Chair of the Mayor's BJP Citizens Oversight Committee)

--Andy Sikes (Chair of the JEDC Downtown Development Review Board)

11-16-07 CARC PowerPoint Presentation

11-16-07 CARC Meeting Minutes

5-21-09 CARC Meeting Minutes

1-21-10 CARC Pedestrian Bridge Presentation

1-21-10 CARC Meeting Minutes

8-13-10 CARC Meeting Minutes

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