County votes for Rockwood courthouse

Finding funding for the multi-million dollar project still an issue

By Mara Stine

The Gresham Outlook, Oct 1, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (3 Reader comments)

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By a unanimous vote, Multnomah County commissioners approved moving forward with a plan for a new courthouse in Gresham’s Rockwood area Thursday, Oct. 1.

If built – and it is still an if as the county has yet to approve funding for the $17 million to $21 million project – the courthouse will replace Gresham’s old, single courtroom facility on Powell Boulevard.

Because so many citizens signed up to testify – all in favor of the project – the 90-minute hearing ran over and two of the five commissioners had to leave for scheduled engagements before voting. But commissioners Jeff Cogen and Deborah Kafoury voiced support for the resolution before leaving.

A small cry of hooray rang out followed by applause after the remaining commissioners passed the resolution, which calls for construction of a new courthouse on county-owned property just south of Stark Street off 185th Avenue.

“The resolution is adopted,” declared a triumphant Multnomah County Chairman Ted Wheeler, who along with Commissioner Diane McKeel, championed the courthouse plan.

“It’s been a long time coming,” McKeel said.

It’s the first step toward building the courthouse in that the resolution approves spending $800,000 on a “schematic design process” for the facility, which is to house two to three courtrooms and space for the county’s district attorney’s office.

The process is to include preliminary plans, a site plan, architectural specifications, cost estimates and updated budget details.

Once the process is complete, an oversight committee would review it before seeking approval from county commissioners to move forward with design and construction as soon as next spring. It’s scheduled to open in spring 2012.

Dilapidated facility

The current courthouse is on Powell Boulevard in the old Gresham City Hall, which the city still owns, said Gresham Mayor Shane Bemis during the county’s courthouse hearing Thursday.

“It’s not often that your landlord shows up to tell you that the building he is leasing you is woefully inadequate and in disrepair, but that’s exactly what brings me here today,” Bemis said. “ … The roofs and windows leak, the pipes backup, creating flooding and sewage spills. At times, porta potties have been brought in to the parking lot due to failure of the plumbing.”

Not to mention the fact that the building was never designed or intended for use as a courthouse, he added.

Multnomah County Commissioner Judy Shiprack, who toured the facility on Wednesday with Multnomah County Judge Jean Maurer, called the building “embarrassingly inadequate.” The day’s rain dripped into buckets set out to catch the water leaking through the ceiling.

Judges, police chiefs from Gresham, Fairview, Troutdale, the county sheriff, local legislators, mayors and city councilors – basically representatives from all three branches of government – testified that the courthouse is too small to meet the demands of East Multnomah County’s explosive population growth.

“The facilities are atrocious,” said Multnomah County District Attorney Michael Schrunk, adding that the need for a new courthouse in Gresham was a “burning issue” in 1981 when he was elected.

County Sheriff Bob Skipper echoed those sentiments.

“I think it’s time we stop talking and start shoveling some dirt,” he said.

Reservations

Some county commissioners did question building cost contingencies, how the county would pay for the building and whether it would be more cost effective to lease space instead of building a county-owned facility.

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