91视频

Multnomah County Commissioners on Thursday approved a site for a new courthouse at the west end of the Hawthorne Bridge.

Commissioners chose between two sites in downtown Portland: the county-owned site near the bridgehead, which county staff and commissioners had previously identified as the preferred site; and an alternate site called Block 128, a parking lot between the KOIN Tower and the Marriott Hotel.

Nan Waller, presiding judge for Multnomah County Circuit Court, said during Thursday鈥檚 meeting that the site selection is a huge step.

鈥淭his is truly a historic day for our community,鈥� Waller said. 鈥淭he last time a courthouse was sited was 1864, and it was built on the same site.鈥�

The new building will add an iconic look to the entrance to downtown, said project manager J.D. Deschamps, who led an April 9 presentation of the final due diligence report along with county spokesman Mike Pullen and Mike Day of DAY CPM Services, the county鈥檚 owner representative and member of the courthouse project team.

The report included input from two public forums attended by about 200 Portland residents and an online survey completed by about 400 people.

Three top factors about the bridge site emerged from the online survey, Pullen said: the Hawthorne Bridge site is close to the Justice Center, the Civic Center and many law firms; the site is very accessible, and it has great transit options.

鈥淎 lot also said it (would be) very visible, a gateway to downtown, and would be seen from the east side of the river,鈥� he said.

NEXT STEPS

With the final site selection, now the ball for construction of the new courthouse 鈥� which has been on the drawing table for more than 40 years 鈥� will finally get rolling.

Project architect RFPs will go out Friday at the earliest and construction management and general contractor RFPs will be sent out on or after May 1. Final design should get underway this fall, Pullen said.

The only objections to the recommendation for the site near the bridge were from supporters of the Veritable Quandary Restaurant, which is located next to the selected courthouse site. Concerns focused on the possibility that the restaurant would lose business due to disruptions during construction and the possible loss of an outdoor dining area.

Erin Hokland, Veritable Quandary鈥檚 general manger, told the 91视频 earlier this week that if the county selected the site near the restaurant, a patio seating area would likely have to be closed during construction. But she said the main portion of the restaurant would continue to remain open for business.

鈥淲e are not closing and we are not going anywhere,鈥� Hokland said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been in business 44 years and we are not selling or moving or giving up.鈥�

Pullen said the county has met several times with restaurant owner Denny King, and hopes to allay any concerns he may have by keeping traffic flowing during construction as well as taking the patio into consideration.

鈥淥ur goal would be to work with them to retain that patio,鈥� Pullen said.

The alternate site that commissioners were considering for the courthouse is mostly a parking lot, Pullen said, but would have be more expensive to build on because the county would have to buy the land. The county already owns the Hawthorne Bridge site.

There were also concerns about the underground parking lot at the alternate site, Pullen said.

鈥淵ou don鈥檛 put a courthouse over an underground parking lot because of the threat of a bombing,鈥� he said after the April 9 meeting. 鈥淎nd it would cost about $3 million to protect this driveway and make it blast-proof.鈥�

DUE DILIGENCE

Funding for the $250 million courthouse project, which should be complete by 2020, will be split 50-50 between the county the state, Deschamps said.

The courthouse project team also talked to adjacent property owners, special interest groups such as bicycle and pedestrian advocate, as well as transportation agencies TriMet and Portland Transportation.

Neither agency found 鈥渇atal flaws鈥� with either site, but TriMet said it would 鈥渉ave more issues鈥� at the alternate site because of the number of bus stops, Pullen said, while bus traffic at the Hawthorne Bridge is set to decrease.

鈥淭his year TriMet will reroute four of the eight bus lines that use the Hawthorne Bridge to the new Tilikum Crossing, the new light rail bridge,鈥� Pullen said, starting in September.

Day told the commissioners the county was given help during the technical part of the due diligence of the two sites with geotechnical and environmental by PBS Environmental Engineering, traffic analysis by David Evans and Associates and seismic and structural aspects by SEFT Consulting Group.

The due diligence took three months and updates and frequently asked questions will continue to be provided on the Multnomah County Central Courthouse web page at https://multco.us/central-courthouse. The site also links to copies of all eight documents generated by the due diligence, including the final presentation.

As part of the due diligence, Pullen said the project team talked with Shorenstein Realty, owners of the Umpqua Bank Building just south of the preferred site by Hawthorne Bridge, and Downtown Development Company, which owns the alternate site.

鈥淭hose two companies had questions about parking in the area and traffic, and how compatible the courthouse would be with current uses, and we replied to both with the information they asked for,鈥� Pullen told the commissioners.

The new courthouse will be in an L-shape, Day said during his portion of the hour-long report. The building, around 17 stories high, will basically wrap around Veritable Quandary and the historic Jefferson Station building. The main entry point will likely be the northwest corner.

鈥淲e understand the importance of making sure public safety is addressed for bike and ped traffic as well as the transit across the bridge,鈥� Pullen said. 鈥淲e want to make sure it鈥檚 a good transition space as people come into the building.鈥�

Day said a county survey last fall showed that 65 percent of people who use the current courthouse are walking, bicycling, carpooling or using public transportation. That could lead other improvements, like a crosswalk from Jefferson Street crossing Naito Parkway.

鈥淢aybe if we put the courthouse there, it would lead to a crosswalk and provide another way to get to (Tom McCall) Waterfront Park,鈥� he said.

The Hawthorne Bridge site also offers the possibility of constructing a tunnel between the courthouse and the Justice Center, an opportunity not offered by the alternate site, said Guy Walden, executive director of the Multnomah Bar Association, during the April 9 public comment period.

Day also recommended the commissioners select the site near the bridge, and now they鈥檝e given final site approval, construction on the long-awaited building can start becoming a reality, Pullen said.

鈥淥ver the years there have been more than a dozen studies done on the need for a new courthouse,鈥� he said. 鈥滻t鈥檚 a long-delayed project and took a lot of political will to move it forward.鈥�