SPRINGFIELD — Residents urged the state to consider downtown locations when choosing a spot for a new courthouse and proposed a myriad of ideas such as splitting the plan into two buildings or rebuilding on the existing site.
People packed the City Hall Chambers Wednesday — including lawyers, a former judge, business advocates and community leaders — to weigh in on the plan to replace the troubled Roderick L. Ireland Courthouse by having a private developer construct the building and lease it back to the state under an agreement that could last as long as 60 years.
After the state’s Asset Management Board vote in late January to build the new courthouse under a private-public partnership created multiple concerns and questions, City Councilor Timothy Allen asked officials to return for another meeting before the official request for proposals for the roughly 330,000 square foot building was completed.
“We hope to collect information and we welcome input,” said Adam Baacke, commissioner of the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance, which is overseeing the project.
When answering some questions, Baacke was direct. He said it is unlikely the state will consider razing and rebuilding a courthouse on the same location since it will require the upheaval of temporarily locating employees for several years.
Resident Dee Brown and City Councilor Sean Curran also asked about having two about 150,000 square-foot buildings constructed instead.
“Was there any though of splitting the courthouse in two like they have in Hampshire County?” Curran said. “You could spread out the economic development benefits and it might be easier to site.”
Currently the plan is to combine all operations including District, Superior, Housing and Probate courts and the Registry of Deeds in one building.
“The trend within the Massachusetts Trial Courts is toward these regional justice centers which consolidate all the functions into a single building,” Baacke said, adding it makes for more efficient operations of the building.
While several people, including former Springfield City Councilor and Judge Philip Conant, said it would be more cost effective and better for the city if the courthouse is owned by the state, Baacke said to reverse the decision would mean a much longer delay to seeing a new building.
On the current track, a request for proposals will go out in late spring of this year and construction could start in late 2026. If officials were to wait for an additional $500 million to be available from the state capital budget to construct the courthouse, it would take an extra three to eight years.
Even with the state paying an estimated $30 million a year in rent, which would increase to $38 million over the 40-year lease, there would still be an estimated cost savings of $153.84 million over the lifetime of the project, division officials said.
There are other benefits. For example, a privately-owned courthouse will pay taxes to the city, which is far more than a small in-lieu-of-tax payment the city receives now from the state, said Cathy Buono, the chief administrative financial officer for Springfield.
“This process is the right process. We have all been concerned about the condition of the courthouse and privately owned it is taxable so ultimately it is new growth,” added Timothy Sheehan, economic development director for the city.
By law the courthouse must be located in the city, but there is no requirement of where in Springfield it has to be built, Baacke said.
“Can your RFP (request for proposals) require an economic impact statement for the city that you can rate,” asked city resident and current City Council candidate Juan Latorre. “Some people are going to win depending on where you put it and some people will lose tremendously.”
Lawyer Patrick Markey, also a former City Councilor, said multiple lawyers now rent offices within walking distance of the courthouse. If it was to be moved to a different location, they would likely leave the central downtown area leaving more office space vacant.
“How are you defining downtown?” asked Michelle Grout, executive director of the Springfield Business Improvement District, saying it can differ depending on who is asked.
Baacke called Latorre’s idea “intriguing” and promised to look into it. He said he is also hoping for more input from Springfield residents about the definition of downtown.