Published: June 25, 2008 10:16 pm      

Downtown streets closed for judicial center work

As progress continues toward the new judicial center being built, two downtown streets were closed yesterday to make way for the building’s construction.

Gib Gosser, executive director of the Downtown Somerset Development Corporation, said a section of East Market Street between Main and Maple Streets and all of Zachary Way were closed and fenced off as workers begin removing buildings in that area as part of the $22.4 million project.

Gosser said because of the closure of the streets, traffic will need to detour around the area using Spring and Maple Streets to reconnect to Market Street east of the area.

“The two streets will be permanently closed as the massive project will eventually cover the entire area,” said Gosser.

Gosser said the front facade of the 77,000-square-foot building will be located on the area that’s now Market Street. Gosser added that Zachary Way and the buildings east of that short street will become a large public plaza in front of the new Judicial Center.

Meanwhile, a meeting of the Pulaski County Development Board, which oversees the judicial center being built, met Tuesday evening.

During the meeting, Garland Vanhook, general manager of facilities for the Administrative Office of the Courts, said he believed they were ahead of schedule on the contract documents to bid the project and he believed they would be done around Labor Day. Vanhook said he expected it would be around the first of October when they would open the bids for the judicial center to be built.

At last month’s meeting, the board decided to work on negotiating with the two contractors who bid on demolition, as even the lowest bid was 32 percent off budget.

The lowest bid at last month’s meeting was $496,212. However, after negotiations, the price came down to $437,281 and Weddle Enterprises was awarded the contract for demolition of the buildings, streets and sidewalks of the affected area.

They expect their work to be completed around Sept. 1.

The judicial complex will be located in the area of Market Street and South Maple Street in downtown Somerset. The plan took properties that were along those streets and downtown Fountain Square.

Properties which were purchased for the judicial center include the former storefronts of The Pink Bee, Kasandra’s Pie Barn, God’s Food Pantry, Brandywine Studios, Ron Wilson’s office, the Smith Staples building, Coldiron offices, the Salutsky building, David Rogers Photography, The Mills building, Southern Office Supply, Bowan building, and the First and Farmers Bank drive-thru.

The Pulaski County Judicial Center project was one of the 18 judicial center projects authorized by the 2005 General Assembly and funded by the 2006 General Assembly.

Members of the Judicial Planning and Development Board include Pulaski County Judge-executive Barty Bullock, chair; circuit clerk George Flynn, vice chair; magistrate Mike Wilson; circuit judge Jeffrey Burdette; attorney John Prather Jr.; and Sarah Boswell Dent, representing the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC).

The purpose of the board is to ensure that county and court officials have input on all aspects of the project.

In other business:

• The board approved issuing a deed of correction to First and Farmers after surveys peeled off a few feet that should have stayed with First and Farmers.

• Architect Hugh Bennett told the board he had met with the Administrative Office of the Courts and gone into detail on the plan layouts and there were one or two areas where minor adjustments had been asked for and they had been corrected or are being corrected.