{"id":72260,"date":"2017-05-21T05:17:09","date_gmt":"2017-05-21T11:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/first-look-new-courthouse-is-on-time-and-on-budget\/"},"modified":"2017-05-21T11:17:09","modified_gmt":"2017-05-21T11:17:09","slug":"first-look-new-courthouse-is-on-time-and-on-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/first-look-new-courthouse-is-on-time-and-on-budget\/","title":{"rendered":"First look: New courthouse is on time and on budget"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><!-- gallery:a2adbf9b-d070-4c76-aefa-683f7bd5665d --><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video wp-block-embed-youtube naviga-video-embed\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ib430WFxzZc\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Montezuma County\u2019s new 22nd Judicial District combined courthouse is about 65 percent complete, on budget and on schedule to be completed by August, officials said Friday.<\/p>\n<p>The $8.3 million project is on North Park Street just south of the county jail.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a well-designed building, and we have a good construction team,\u201d said Brian Kail, superintendent for Jaynes Construction, the project\u2019s general contractor.<\/p>\n<p>The 32,400-square-foot judicial center has a Southwestern feel, thanks to a Native American kiva design out front, instead of typical courthouse pillars.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe kiva room is a real distinct feature that will be used for jury instruction and public events,\u201d Kail said Friday during a tour. \u201cThe circular design combined with walls leaning to the center was an interesting challenge for builders. They loved it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Public convenience and efficiency are the hallmarks of the new combined courthouse, said owners representative Monte Guiles.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile it will be very nice, it\u2019s not opulent and has a very utilitarian and functional design,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>It will house two county courtrooms, two district courtrooms, judge chambers, jury deliberation rooms, court clerk and records offices, probation department, family court, legal library and holding cells for inmates. The courthouse has a certified rating under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program.<\/p>\n<p>Kail said the main public hall will impress visitors with its 20-foot-high ceiling, natural lighting and wood-plank flooring.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt will be a real pretty hallway and will access all the courtrooms,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Safety and security are a primary focus of the building. Secure sally ports in the back are where prisoners will be escorted into holding cells before entering courtrooms. Court clerks are protected by bulletproof glass, security gates can be triggered to drop, and there are cameras everywhere.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe judges have toured their courtrooms and have worked with us on the design,\u201d Guiles said. \u201cIt is a much more secure facility than the current courts, and because everything is under one roof, it\u2019s much more convenient for the public and staff. Plus there is plenty of parking.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said the 22nd Judicial District, Jaynes Construction and Humphries Poli Architects understood the financial crunch the county faced funding the project, which was required by the state. Montezuma County is the last in the state to combine county and district courts into one courthouse.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis was tough on the county, and we worked hard to adhere to their tight budget,\u201d Guiles said.<\/p>\n<p>Original estimates put the project at $11 million, and after several months of \u201cvalue engineering\u201d meetings, the price came down to $8.3 million. The Department of Local Affairs kicked in $2.5 million in grants, and $5.8 million came out of the county\u2019s general fund.<\/p>\n<p>A $500,000 grant from the state\u2019s underfunded courts program will be used for courtroom interior design to create an atmosphere of judicial gravitas, including acoustic paneling, decorative hardwood and custom entryways.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe courtrooms will have that appropriate sense of grandeur,\u201d Guiles said.<\/p>\n<p>About 20 subcontractors are on the job, including local companies Cruzan Construction, S&amp;S Construction, ME&amp;E Engineering and Trautner Geotech.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAn any given day, we have 50 to 60 workers on site,\u201d Kail said. \u201cA lot of them are staying in local hotels, and are eating out a lot at local restaurants.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em class=\"mwc_shirttail\"><a href=\"mailto:jmimiaga@the-journal.com\">jmimiaga@the-journal.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Building\u2019s hallmarks are convenience and efficiency<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":72261,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[459,21,13,28,1515,60,29,316],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-72260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-construction-and-property","tag-cortez","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-headlines","tag-judiciary-system-of-justice","tag-montezuma-county","tag-newsletter","tag-video"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72260\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72260"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=72260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}