LAKE JACKSON — With the bang of hammers and whirring of drills, the new home of the city’s municipal court is being built piece by piece.
Since work began in April, the old fire department has been torn down, and the new court’s foundation has been put down and its frame put in place. Today, those passing by can see walls going up, but what they can’t see is the electrical, plumbing and air-conditioning work that is being done inside, said Brent Bowles, architect with iAD Architects in Lake Jackson.
Bowles estimates construction is about 35 percent complete and will be finished in April.
The current municipal court area is limited on space, and with its leaks and asbestos, is just plain nasty, City Manager Bill Yenne said. After the new fire department was built a few years ago, the old fire department left the perfect space for the new $3.4 million municipal court, he said.
The new court will include a clerk system with three windows, instead of two, where people can go to pay fines, Bowles said. The judge and jury will be on a raised platform in the large courtroom and there will be a conference room for deliberations, he said.
The lobby is much bigger, which means more people will be able to fit into the courthouse and wait, Assistant City Manager Modesto Mundo said. In addition, an outside patio will be built that also can accommodate those waiting to be seen in court, he said.
The current lobby is far too small for the large number of people who sometimes need to wait, Mundo said.
In addition, the actual courtroom is at least four times bigger than the current courtroom, City Engineer Sal Aguirre said.
The municipal court is used for appeal of any kind of traffic ticket or code enforcement citation given by the city, Yenne said.
The current courtroom will be remodeled and turned in to a city records storage facility, Mundo said. This new storage area will allow the city to free up filing space in the city offices, he said.
The emergency operations center and dispatch will move out of the police station to the court’s second floor, allowing police a place to work in case of an emergency, Mundo said.
Dispatch equipment is so expensive city officials felt it would be better to have it in a place where it was unlikely to be flooded, he said.
One of the most talked-about features of the new municipal court building is the “V” roof design, creating questions about the building’s drainage capabilities. Bowles showed council and staff several options for the court design, and this design was selected because it fit with the Alden Dow design that can be seen throughout Lake Jackson, Mundo said.
The design will not create any drainage problems, Bowles said. The water will run down into the center, where internal drainage pipes are located, he said.
Internal drainage pipes are used in flat-roof buildings, and the inverted design actually will increase the water flow and get water off the roof faster, Bowles said. In addition, the drainage system is designed to handle 16 inches of rain in one hour, he said, a level not likely to happen.
The interior will be decorated with rich woods, ceramic tile and wood beams in the ceiling. The exterior will be covered with rustic stone and stucco, Bowles said. Stained glass windows will decorate the building as well.
Katlynn Lanham covers Lake Jackson for The Facts. Contact her at 979-237-0150.