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Business alliance, county still at odds on courthouse project compromise

Lisa Hrichison Nathaniel Freas
Lisa Hrichison Nathaniel Freas
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The Citizens’ Business Alliance, composed chiefly of several neighborhood associations, for the past two weeks has been putting out flyers protesting county plans for construction of an approximately 198,000-square-foot justice center on West Market, North Church and West Gay streets.

The group maintains the proposed 6-story addition, which would require the demolition of 80,000 feet of existing space in 11 buildings and not allow space for first-floor retail or mixed-use potential, would damage both downtown fabric and retail vitality.

At the meeting, President Judge Howard F. Riley Jr. said that by agreeing to plans creating a total of 301,000 square feet of courthouse space, substantially less space than what Riley originally requested, the courts had “already compromised” as far as possible.

Riley, who during initial development plans suggested a 8-10 story building be constructed on the site to cope with projected future court space demands, said “There has already been a lot of compromise.”

The alliance, who also met with the commissioners on Jan. 9, have proposed an alternativejustice center complex building plans in which the 40-year-old Paul B. Dague Building at New and West Market streets would be demolished and a very large 5- to 6-story, approximately300,000-plus square feet justice center would be built along the length of West Market Street between New and Darlington streets.

The plans propose the county could then restore portions of the courthouse for administrative offices and maintain its historical courtrooms for ceremonial purposes and noncriminal courts.Finally, according to the alliance’s proposal, the county could sell off the several properties it owns on West Market, North Church and West Gay streets, on which the justice annex would be built, for retail, residential or mixed-use development. The group has said the “state of the art” building would cost less to build, would contain more needed court spaceand would provide more advanced security while retaining retail on North Church Street.

The commissioners have maintained the alliance’s proposed one-building West Market Street building would be substantially more expensive vs. the county’s two-building concept and have said converting and “duplicating” the historic courtrooms would be a mistake.

Commissioner Colin Hanna said Tuesday renovating courtrooms one and two, the oldest courtrooms in the Chester County Courthouse, would be an “aesthetic atrocity creating an enormous amount of wasted space.”

Commissioner Karen L. Martynick said the county’s projected higher costs for the alliance’s building proposal compelled asking a “philosophical question” whether Chester County taxpayers “should subsidize” the borough.

“What is more important in how we direct this dialog — the impact of (the alliance’s one-building proposal) on the county taxpayer, or its impact on the downtown business district?” Martynick asked.

Thomas J. Comitta, a town planner and alliance member, said the impersonal impact of “blank wall space” on North Church Street would “reverberate” throughout the downtown,diminish the overall streetscape experience a potentially hurt commerce through a loss of out of town shoppers. Comitta suggested the county do economic impact plan for the project”sooner rather than later.”

Alliance President Holly Brown said downtown already has too few retail shops and could ill afford the loss of more or lose more. She said more people would visit and spend dollars dowtown if more retail was present.

Commissioner Andrew Dinniman, said a “compromise” of some sort needed to be fashioned between the courts needs and the concerns of the borough. Dinniman said the county shouldn’t consider itself required to be “in lockstep” with the court’s requests.

“I have grave reservations about how we are going to balance all of the needs of West Chester in the plans as they stand,” he said.

On Oct. 3 the commissioners and Riley announced building plans to alleviate the court’s needs for significantly more office space with a now estimated $75 million plan for the justice complex and a 4-story 136,050 square feet Administration Building at 201 West Market St., adjacent to the Dague Building. The county has estimated construction could begin by September, 2001 at the West Market Street facility and the fall of 2003 on the courthouse.

On Feb. 7, borough council members received a $375,000 offer from the county for the borough-owned parking lot 4, at the northwest corner of West Market and Darlington streets. The space would be occupied by the Administration Building.