$555M courthouse construction beginning

The new courthouse will rise 22 stories and 389 feet on the block bounded by State, Union, B and C streets. Note top cornice which doubles as a shade structure for the east-facing corridors. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

The new courthouse will rise 22 stories and 389 feet on the block bounded by State, Union, B and C streets. Note top cornice which doubles as a shade structure for the east-facing corridors. / Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

San Diego will break ground next month on its most expensive public office building ever: The $555.5 million, San Diego Central Courthouse.

Funded from increased court fines and fees, the 704,000-square-foot building at Union and C streets downtown will replace the obsolete county courthouse that opened 53 years ago.

I think, in part, we live in a very different world than when the current buildings we occupy were built, said David J. Danielsen, presiding judge of the San Diego Superior Court. I dont think any of us had any clue way back in the day of the potential danger of asbestos. I dont think anybody ever designed a building with modern terrorists in mind.

Due for completion in 2016, the building also breaks the mold in courthouse design. No more Classical columns or bell towers, such as those that existed in earlier San Diego courthouses. This courthouse is a 22-story skyscraper 389 feet tall.

Officials considered moving the facility to a suburban location but rejected that idea because of the concentration of legal and law enforcement activities downtown.

The trend will be toward these kinds of arrangements, said the project architect Javier Arizmendi at Skidmore, Owings and Merrill in San Francisco. I think its more efficient in the way people will move through the building. It is much safer in terms of the way people are processed through the facility.

But unfortunately for urban planners, the building does not mix uses with retail or restaurant space that could keep the area vibrant after business hours.

We did look at that, said Clifford Ham, principal architect for the , principal architect in the Administrative Office of the Courts. We felt the ground floor perimeter is too valuable to us.

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$555M courthouse construction beginning