New courthouse provides judiciary 21st century stage

New courthouse provides judiciary 21st century stage


By Judy Harrison
BDN Staff
BANGOR DAILY NEWS PHOTO BY JOHN CLARKE RUSS
Justice Warren Silver sits in his chair behind the bench in the Maine Supreme Court’s ceremonial courtroom, one of seven courtrooms in the soon-to-open Penobscot Judicial Center in downtown Bangor. Buy Photo

BANGOR, Maine — The first courthouse in the state to be owned and operated by the Maine judiciary will open for business at 8 a.m. Monday.

The $34.4 million Penobscot Judicial Center at 78 Exchange St. will combine Penobscot County Superior Court and Bangor District Court. Hours at those courthouses, located on Hammond Street, were reduced this week while judges, clerks and other personnel moved files to the new location on Kenduskeag Stream.

Ground was broken 26 months ago for the 86,000-square-foot, 3½-story building. A topping ceremony was held a year later on Sept. 8, 2008, when the last structural beam was hoisted into place.

The red-brick structure bears little resemblance to the more than century-old Penobscot County Courthouse, completed in 1905 at a cost of $116,500, and the District Court, a former grocery store bought by the county in the 1960s when the District Court system was set up to replace municipal courts.

It will be the first courthouse in the state equipped for the 21st century, Leigh I. Saufley, chief justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, has said of the edifice. Current plans call for it to have entry screening every day. Prisoners will be kept separate from the public in secure areas, and it is equipped for videoconferencing and arraignments.

In addition, every courtroom will be monitored from a central security desk, evidence will be displayed to jurors, judges and lawyers on display screens, and defendants and their families no longer will be cramped on benches or forced to stand while waiting for their cases to be heard.

The courthouse, which cost about $600,000 less than was budgeted, also is opening about six weeks ahead of schedule, Maine Supreme Judicial Court Justice Warren Silver said earlier this month. It was built by Consigli Construction Co. Inc. of Milford, Mass., and Portland.

Every courtroom will have natural light with electric window shades. The wood in the courtrooms is maple and is lighter than the paneling in the courtrooms in the old buildings.

The tables used by attorneys in the courtrooms were made by Thomas Moser Cabinetmakers in Freeport. According to Silver, Moser’s bid was lower than that of an office supply firm the state has used in the past.

One of the regrets many expressed about the move was leaving behind the mural in the stairwell of the Penobscot County Courthouse. Because it was painted directly onto the wall, it could not be relocated.

Through the state’s Percent for Art program, 1 percent of the cost of the building was spent on artwork. Several of the pieces are focused on the Penobscot River, the Kenduskeag Stream and the city’s history as a logging center during the 19th century.

The courthouse is the manifestation of the vision Saufley has articulated since she was appointed chief justice in 2001.

“So my vision, if you want to do the vision thing, is to make the judicial branch in Maine into a system that is able to respond to all the different types of disputes that come up,” she said in 2005. “And right now we still are not able to do that.”

Her colleague, Maine Supreme Judicial Court Justice Andrew Mead, has said that Saufley “is leading the charge” to bring the judiciary into the 21st century.

Earlier this month Mead said the Penobscot Judicial Center is what courthouses should look like for the future of justice in Maine.

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Comments
14 comments on this item

All I'm hearing here is a bunch of Lawyers telling me why they couldn't possible absorb the cuts that other State agenicyes are having to deal with. Keep in mind these folks make six figures, or more depending on their 'reputation'. The new courhouse is not only an eyesore (a block with a curved front), but is more of the same from Maine's most overpaid professionals. What an all-around lack of imagination.

For those of you with a clue, I should also mention that I watched landscapers drop thousandof $'s into the new WalGreens parking lost on Broadway. What do you suppose is the lifespan of a cheap perrenial planted in Bangor Maine in late October. I'm betting they wasted some serious bucls/

That $600,000 "savings" on the project coming in ahead of schedule has gone to the construction company who built this building. This is standard process, anyway...they probably got more for their bonus as well. So, Bangor is supposed to be the judicial hub of Maine now? Well, this is appropriate, anyway, as crime is definitely supposedly on the rise in the State. The northern end, as it is said to be, needs their own central facility that is more appropriately updated from the older courthouse, to facilitate the growing need for trials, prisoners, and guests to the hearings.

The "lack of imagination" per the comment by 'Bangorian' (((11:16PM))), should have been in the total rethinking process of not the building so much (((although it DOES need upgrading already))) as does the law enforcement program in Maine, but the overall law enforcement policies, procedures and the judicial system in Maine needs to begin to adjust their penalty structure to be fitting with and into the federal system,; give more harsher penalties to first-timers who break the law, and more appropriate civil duties added onto their time, and fine. Crime-deterrence is the answer... This building (((and I agree it is truly an eyesore, as the original building at the old Eastern Maine General Hospital, even in the same style, built in 1899 looks better!!))) reflects the typical judicial style of structure, but even in this state of construction, as it is said to be completed, is not completed. Did anyone think ahead of the harsh snow, ice, sleet, rain and wind conditions that will certainly be present this winter? Wait...see what I mean when the wintertime really hits. Those barrier bars will not function, neither will the ticket box. They will be frozen solid! Why were not these covered? There is not even an appropriate cover extruding from the building to protect walkers alongside. Anyway, I'm not an engineer in construction, but this building seems to be another albatross.

...and for those who forgets all to quickly, Kenduskeag stream has flooded this parking lot and area many times in the past, and it will do so again.

They didn't forget that the site is located in a flood plain. That's why the lower level is for parking only. Look at the photo.

New expanded courthouses, and another story on increased homeless, and yet another story on cutting funds for homeless shelters. Something wrong with this picture.

As most of us do not know how this was funded nor how it will be paid for and since it is a public facility there should have been at least a paragraph of explanation.

Watch out now they need to make 34.4 million in arrests requiring fines to pay for this.

A very ugly building with cheap furniture, drywall, and horrible florescent lighting. The court rooms look like the furnished from IKEA. Why are there vaulted ceilings in Maine? Idiotic--a waste of space and energy.

How wonderful that all the posts are so positive and by such intelligent and knowledgeable people. Shows a real sense of community and the positive virtues of a state whose motto means "I Lead" .....

Awesome! Wish it had been built before I did my year on jury duty. The chairs look a lot more comfortable.

Glad we can build a new courthouse when we are cutting back school budgets. A poor sense in priority?

Just wait until you try and find a parking space near the place. Hope you like walking in rain, snow and sleat. One would have thought that with all the parking problems the old court houses had they would have made parking a must. But then again the Judges have nice inside parking, staff has reserved parking, just the public that the court system serves won't have anyplace to park. But then again more parking tickets for Bangor PD, not that they are a budget money naking tool. Heard that they didn't have enough money to pay for a video system to link the jail and court house so they wouldn't have to truck prisoners all over town, maybe some of the savings could have bought some internet bandwidth. Bet the judges offices are nice though. And yes it is built in a flood plain. They talk about closing local courts and build a show place in Bangor. Maine, the way life should be. It's only tax money after all.

Bangor always builds ugly looking buildings. This one is no exception. Yet another eyesore in downtown.

http://illuminatimatrix.wordpress.com/

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