New courthouse’s price tag jolts County Council

EVERETT — The Snohomish County Council reacted with collective sticker shock Monday after hearing the latest cost estimates for a new county courthouse.

Instead of the $75 million under discussion for a year, they’re now hearing estimates that exceed that figure by up to $80 million.

Deputy Executive Mark Ericks cautioned that it won’t be possible to pin down more precise numbers until the council decides on where to build the new courthouse.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

“There wasn’t then, nor is there now, a $75 million option that will satisfy our needs,” Ericks told a council committee on Monday afternoon.

Ericks said he believed the low-ball estimate, developed during the watch of previous county executive Aaron Reardon, was “a matter of having unrealistic expectations or wishful expectations,” not of deliberate deception.

The deputy executive and county facilities staff on Monday presented variations on two possible courthouse sites.

One site is the plaza next to the existing 1967 courthouse. Building there could cost an estimated $109 million to $120 million, depending on whether the new structure is seven or nine stories.

Another possible site is the county-owned parking lot at the corner of Wall Street and Oakes Avenue across the street from Comcast Arena.

Building on the parking lot could cost $145 million for nine stories or $155 million for 10 stories. A drawback of that plan, aside from the hefty price, is having to buy out or use eminent domain for other property owners on the block. That location also would likely prevent the county from using an underground prisoner transport tunnel from the existing courthouse to the nearby jail.

There’s yet another choice that would involve moving the courts into temporary leased space, demolishing the old courthouse and building the new justice center in the same spot. That possibility was earlier discounted as too pricey, but is back on the table. The estimated price is about $130 million.

County staff have ruled out moving the historic Mission Building and putting the new courthouse in its place, Ericks said.

County Councilmembers want to spend the coming week reviewing the options and ways to pay for them. They’re planning to resume the discussion, possibly at the regular 10:30 a.m. meeting on Monday.

“A big part of what we do is how we pay for it,” Councilman Dave Gossett said.

The council in February decided that safety problems with the existing 1967 courthouse are too grave to be fixed through remodeling. Among the building’s woes are an inability to keep the public and court staff physically separated from defendants and convicted criminals; the presence of asbestos; multistory concrete facades at risk during an earthquake; and a lack of facilities for the physically disabled.

Solutions have been debated for years. A 2008 proposal estimated it would cost $163 million to build a new 10-story courthouse. That plan died for lack of political support.

Last year, the council tasked Reardon’s office and judicial leaders with exploring new ideas to fix the courthouse.

What emerged was a plan to build a seven-story structure with 20 courtrooms in the plaza on the courthouse’s north side. Staff would later move in, so the old building could be demolished. This spring, the county took out $75 million in bonds to start the project.

After Reardon resigned in May, the council asked new County Executive John Lovick and his staff to review the project.

Ericks, Lovick’s deputy, has been immersed in the review for months. On Monday, he detailed serious flaws with the original plan.

To start with, the $75 million option was based on a bare-bones structure without any noise-dampening carpet in the courtrooms. To reduce square-footage costs, plans for that building shrunk the width of hallways and other common areas.

That same option, with some extra space, minimal carpeting and other typical building features, is now the option pegged at $109 million.

That plan still fails to meet all projected space needs and comes with serious safety concerns, Ericks said.

The original option required building a new seven-story structure only about 10 feet from the existing courthouse. That puts staff in the old building at risk of getting hurt by construction equipment or falling materials, Ericks said. There’s also the likelihood of jackhammers and other loud construction equipment disrupting court next door.

Once finished, any building on the plaza would be vulnerable to truck bombs of the type used in the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing, Ericks said.

“There was zero setback from the street,” said Ericks, who was responsible for protecting federal judges in his past job as U.S. marshal for the Western District of Washington.

The old plans came with space problems, too: The proposed building on the plaza would have been filled to capacity the day it opened. There would be no space for county prosecutors, who would get offices in most of the alternatives.

Planning for growth is important because the new courthouse likely would see daily use for the next 50 to 75 years.

Even with the new wrinkles, county leaders still hope to break ground on a new courthouse by the fall of 2014 and to finish the majority of the construction in 2016.

Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465, nhaglund@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Vehicles travel along Mukilteo Speedway on Sunday, April 21, 2024, in Mukilteo, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Mukilteo cameras go live to curb speeding on Speedway

Starting Friday, an automated traffic camera system will cover four blocks of Mukilteo Speedway. A 30-day warning period is in place.

Carli Brockman lets her daughter Carli, 2, help push her ballot into the ballot drop box on the Snohomish County Campus on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Here’s who filed for the primary election in Snohomish County

Positions with three or more candidates will go to voters Aug. 5 to determine final contenders for the Nov. 4 general election.

Students from Explorer Middle School gather Wednesday around a makeshift memorial for Emiliano “Emi” Munoz, who died Monday, May 5, after an electric bicycle accident in south Everett. (Aspen Anderson / The Herald)
Community and classmates mourn death of 13-year-old in bicycle accident

Emiliano “Emi” Munoz died from his injuries three days after colliding with a braided cable.

Danny Burgess, left, and Sandy Weakland, right, carefully pull out benthic organisms from sediment samples on Thursday, May 1, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
‘Got Mud?’ Researchers monitor the health of the Puget Sound

For the next few weeks, the state’s marine monitoring team will collect sediment and organism samples across Puget Sound

Everett postal workers gather for a portrait to advertise the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive on Wednesday, May 7, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Snohomish County letter carriers prepare for food drive this Saturday

The largest single-day food drive in the country comes at an uncertain time for federal food bank funding.

Everett
Everett considers ordinance to require more apprentice labor

It would require apprentices to work 15% of the total labor hours for construction or renovation on most city projects over $1 million.

A person walks past Laura Haddad’s “Cloud” sculpture before boarding a Link car on Monday, Oct. 14, 2024 in SeaTac, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Sound Transit seeks input on Everett bike, pedestrian improvements

The transit agency is looking for feedback about infrastructure improvements around new light rail stations.

A standard jet fuel, left, burns with extensive smoke output while a 50 percent SAF drop-in jet fuel, right, puts off less smoke during a demonstration of the difference in fuel emissions on Tuesday, March 28, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Sustainable aviation fuel center gets funding boost

A planned research and development center focused on sustainable aviation… Continue reading

Dani Mundell, the athletic director at Everett Public Schools, at Everett Memorial Stadium on Wednesday, May 14, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Will Geschke / The Herald)
Everett Public Schools to launch girls flag football as varsity sport

The first season will take place in the 2025-26 school year during the winter.

Clothing Optional performs at the Fisherman's Village Music Festival on Thursday, May 15 in Everett, Washington. (Will Geschke / The Herald)
Everett gets its fill of music at Fisherman’s Village

The annual downtown music festival began Thursday and will continue until the early hours of Sunday.

Seen here are the blue pens Gov. Bob Ferguson uses to sign bills. Companies and other interest groups are hoping he’ll opt for red veto ink on a range of tax bills. (Photo by Jacquelyn Jimenez Romero/Washington State Standard)
Tesla, Netflix, Philip Morris among those pushing WA governor for tax vetoes

Gov. Bob Ferguson is getting lots of requests to reject new taxes ahead of a Tuesday deadline for him to act on bills.

Jerry Cornfield / Washington State Standard
A new law in Washington will assure students are offered special education services until they are 22. State Sen. Adrian Cortes, D-Battle Ground, a special education teacher, was the sponsor. He spoke of the need for increased funding and support for public schools at a February rally of educators, parents and students at the Washington state Capitol.
Washington will offer special education to students longer under new law

A new law triggered by a lawsuit will ensure public school students… Continue reading

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.