New County Courthouse

[CLT_sc]

On 9/30/2019 at 9:59 PM, westsider28 said:

Update on Courthouse (etc.) timeline in this H-J article.  County officials point to leadership changes (ie: County Admin) and relocating departments as reasons for the delay.  Buildings on courthouse parking deck site are now empty.  Asbestos abatement should take 6 weeks, demo in December, and deck construction in January (assuming timely DRB approvals).  Then energy plant, then jail annex demo, then new courthouse construction.  Instead of being ready for occupancy by mid-2022, the judicial center should be ready to open by late-2022 or early 2023.

What will happen to the existing courthouse?  Also, when police and fire move from The old building, what happens to city hall?

[westsider28]

Just now, CLT_sc said:

What will happen to the existing courthouse?  Also, when police and fire move from The old building, what happens to city hall?

The existing courthouse will be demolished and a large greenspace/park will take its place. 

As for City Hall, it will also be demolished and the site is likely going to be home to the new City/County office building (plus parking deck).  There's also a chance that it will be built elsewhere and the City Hall site sold off for private development.  I don't think that decision has been made yet, though I think officials are leaning toward the former.

[Spartan]

I hope they keep city hall on Broad Street. City Hall has always been on that street.

[CLT_sc]

On 10/22/2019 at 8:44 PM, westsider28 said:

The existing courthouse will be demolished and a large greenspace/park will take its place. 

As for City Hall, it will also be demolished and the site is likely going to be home to the new City/County office building (plus parking deck).  There's also a chance that it will be built elsewhere and the City Hall site sold off for private development.  I don't think that decision has been made yet, though I think officials are leaning toward the former.

Thanks for the info.......What will go in the old Sears building in the city and county consolidate space in one building?  

[Spartan]

Hopefully they tear it down and start over. It's a terrible building.

[westsider28]

Fencing is up around several buildings on Library Street where the courthouse parking deck will go.  So demolition should begin relatively soon.

I don't think I ever posted about the parking deck when it first went before the DRB.  They essentially want it to be as cheap as possible so that most of the budget can go toward the courthouse (understandable).  But the DRB was unimpressed by the lack of screening, considering this will be a free-standing deck.  They mostly show trees which will take 20 years to reach the size shown.  The DRB approved the site placement (changed from initial plan), but told the design team to come up with some screening (aluminum louvers, design on the concrete panels, art, etc).

The deck will now parallel Library Street with a lot behind.

Here's a glimpse of the potential park/plaza design in front of the new courthouse.

They're also hoping to narrow Daniel Morgan to 3 lanes to free up some land. Discussions with SCDOT are ongoing.

The parking deck still needs final approval.  I assume they'll come back before the DRB in Jan. or Feb.

[CLT_sc]

2 hours ago, westsider28 said:

Fencing is up around several buildings on Library Street where the courthouse parking deck will go.  So demolition should begin relatively soon.

I don't think I ever posted about the parking deck when it first went before the DRB.  They essentially want it to be as cheap as possible so that most of the budget can go toward the courthouse (understandable).  But the DRB was unimpressed by the lack of screening, considering this will be a free-standing deck.  They mostly show trees which will take 20 years to reach the size shown.  The DRB approved the site placement (changed from initial plan), but told the design team to come up with some screening (aluminum louvers, design on the concrete panels, art, etc).

The deck will now parallel Library Street with a lot behind.

Here's a glimpse of the potential park/plaza design in front of the new courthouse.

They're also hoping to narrow Daniel Morgan to 3 lanes to free up some land. Discussions with SCDOT are ongoing.

The parking deck still needs final approval.  I assume they'll come back before the DRB in Jan. or Feb.

I didn’t know these buildings on library would go away.....will DM get re-worked when it is reduced to three lanes?  Maybe wider sidewalks and much better lighting.

[roads-scholar]

13 hours ago, CLT_sc said:

I didn’t know these buildings on library would go away.....will DM get re-worked when it is reduced to three lanes?  Maybe wider sidewalks and much better lighting.

Hope the parking deck will be something other than a brutalist structure (i.e. hospital parking deck on Wood Street).  

[westsider28]

One building down already:

[westsider28]

3 of 4 buildings on parking garage site demolished, as of yesterday

[westsider28]

The courthouse parking deck also got final approval at the DRB meeting last night.  There were several design improvements that satisfied the DRB: more brick on vertical columns, decorative steel column elements, a more well-defined pedestrian entrance (w/canopy) and vehicle entrance (more brick), more substantial/detailed cornices at the top, and the deck is now one level shorter (6 vs 7) which should reduce its mass/visibility.  New design:

Versus the old design:

[spartanburgh]

I like the old design better........

[roads-scholar]

13 hours ago, westsider28 said:

The courthouse parking deck also got final approval at the DRB meeting last night.  There were several design improvements that satisfied the DRB: more brick on vertical columns, decorative steel column elements, a more well-defined pedestrian entrance (w/canopy) and vehicle entrance (more brick), more substantial/detailed cornices at the top, and the deck is now one level shorter (6 vs 7) which should reduce its mass/visibility.  New design:

Versus the old design:

Much improved IMO.  The additional brickwork and improved entrance gives the garage some character.

[westsider28]

Here's an update on the Courthouse phasing from Monday's County Council meeting, including a tweaked design for Courthouse (click "Capital Penny Phase I Update", then click the "Supporting Document" to view).  IMO, it looks a bit more awkward now.  Proportions seem off a bit, and I hate the 2 weird columns on the upper center area.  Hopefully it changes for the better before it's approved.

Old design for comparison:

Clearer picture of the parking deck.  A previous Courthouse update suggested a May start for actual deck construction (following utility relocation and foundation prep).

Updated final site plan.  The slight off-axis rotation of the Courthouse bothers my OCD, but it's not a dealbreaker. 

More phasing info from January's meeting:

Edited March 18, 2020 by westsider28

[roads-scholar]

10 hours ago, westsider28 said:

Here's an update on the Courthouse phasing from Monday's County Council meeting, including a tweaked design for Courthouse (click "Capital Penny Phase I Update", then click the "Supporting Document" to view).  IMO, it looks a bit more awkward now.  Proportions seem off a bit, and I hate the 2 weird columns on the upper center area.  Hopefully it changes for the better before it's approved.

Old design for comparison:

Clearer picture of the parking deck.  A previous Courthouse update suggested a May start for actual deck construction (following utility relocation and foundation prep).

Updated final site plan.  The slight off-axis rotation of the Courthouse bothers my OCD, but it's not a dealbreaker. 

More phasing info from January's meeting:

Irrespective of the columns the building will be imposing.  

[GvilleSC]

This is a very impressive complex. Despite the revisions and how one may feel about them, this will still end up being a handsome and stately building. Kudos to Spartanburg (edit: COUNTY) for taking this on. 

Edited March 18, 2020 by GvilleSC

[distortedlogic]

On 3/18/2020 at 9:06 AM, GvilleSC said:

This is a very impressive complex. Despite the revisions and how one may feel about them, this will still end up being a handsome and stately building. Kudos to Spartanburg (edit: COUNTY) for taking this on. 

Agree, nice looking building. Spartanburg continues to deliver overall better looking architecture than Greenville, IMO. 

[Spartan]

Agreed. Minor aesthetic complaints aside, this will be a great addition to the city.

 

I agree the top columns are weird. I'm betting it was a value engineering process or the internal architectural requirements forced the adjsutment.

[westsider28]

Update article yesterday.  Not too much new.  COVID-19 may slow the schedule a bit since in-person meetings can't be held.  A few highlights:

Construction of the courthouse will begin in early 2021 and will take up to 26 months to complete.  

The new 12,000-square-foot Emergency Operations Center is on track for occupancy by mid- to late-2021 next to the county’s Community Services Building on Fairforest Road.

The new 45,000-square-foot police headquarters building will be located at the corner of Forest and St. John streets. It is scheduled to open by mid-2022.

A site hasn't been chosen for a new $65.3 million, 180,000-square-foot city-county government complex and parking garage. Design is scheduled to start this fall, last 18 months, and be followed by two years of construction with occupancy by mid-2024.

[westsider28]

I e-mailed the County Administrator to get a status update on the Courthouse project.  They've been doing a lot of prep work behind the scenes (design work, selecting precast materials for the deck and courthouse, interiors work, construction of 2 courtroom mock-ups, removal of underground tanks, removal of trees, some utility relocation work, storm water permitting, etc).  A lot has to happen in quick succession and everything is interconnected.  Turner Construction is the company doing the work, by the way.

Work should start on the parking deck foundation and the temporary judges' parking lot (front left of current CH, corner of Magnolia and St John) at the beginning of August.  That should take about 3 months.  Then the new central energy plant will be built on the current judges' parking lot (corner of Library and N Daniel Morgan) concurrently with vertical parking deck construction.  The deck and CEP should both wrap up together late next spring, early summer (weather depending).  Demo of Annex I and construction of the courthouse immediately follows.

He also mentioned that there should be a new, updated website for the project coming by the end of this month.

Here's a visual representation of the phasing:

[westsider28]

I watched Monday's County Council meeting online, and there was an update on the courthouse project.  First off, the brick color of the parking deck has changed from red to brown, because that looks better with the courthouse design (the same brick will be used for the deck and the courthouse plaza).  The deck will start in August and should be done this time next year.

There were also new courthouse renderings with a more finished plaza design.  They also mentioned that Tindall is providing the cast stone (concrete) for the courthouse facade, and they have apparently developed a unique concrete that has a look and feel that's very similar to marble.  Below are screenshots of the courthouse renderings.  Seeing the building in the context of the plaza makes it look quite impressive.  Should start next summer and open at the end of 2023 / start of 2024.

[Spartan]

Its weird to be excited about a building that I sincerely hope I never have to go into. I think they've done a good job with the design. Looks like a proper courthouse, and the space out front will be a nice public open space for people to enjoy.

[westsider28]

Last weekend, I noticed that they had material samples outside the construction office on East Daniel Morgan (not sure if they're still there).  Anyway, the panels on the right appeared to be the pure white concrete that was talked about.  I'd say it was more like limestone, kind of a smooth chalky feel vs the rougher feel of typical concrete.  I don't really mind either.  I guess we'll just see how it ends up.

I also found a high-resolution rendering of the courthouse on the County website:

[westsider28]

Construction on the temporary judges parking lot has begun.  And much of Library Street has been torn up in preparation for parking deck construction.  It's finally happening!

Also, the Invest Spartanburg website has been updated with current info and renderings for penny tax projects.  More will be added as the other buildings are designed.

[westsider28]

There is now a live webcam of the courthouse parking deck construction on the County's website https://www.spartanburgcounty.org/ and on http://www.investspartanburg.com/

Here's a direct link to the webcam

Screenshot from this afternoon (9/4):

Edited September 4, 2020 by westsider28