PETERSBURG, Va. β Petersburg officials broke ground Tuesday morning on an $80 million courthouse project that will bring courtroom proceedings into the 21st century and change the landscape of downtown Petersburg.
The official shovel toss of dirt marked the beginning of construction on the new building, which comes after a court order to the city five years ago.
"The new courthouse we break ground on today is more than just a building, it's a promise," Mayor Sam Parham said. "In 2020, the court issued an order, requiring the city of Petersburg to have a new courthouse under construction by October 2026."
The court order comes as the need for more modern buildings became a problem.
"Two district court buildings that just simply are falling apart," Chief Circuit Court Judge Joseph Teefey said.
Those two courthouses went into service in 1969 and are not comparable with the needs of today's courtrooms, where technology is key.
"We need larger screens for television. We need larger circuitry to wire in the technology in order to depict this. We also need an acoustically sound area for people to hear what's being narrated to them or said," Teefey said.
The new courthouse is designed to consolidate all three courts into one building.
"The building is 99,000 square feet. It's three stories on three of the sides. The fourth side the grade slopes off," Lee Shadbolt of CPL Architects, Engineering and Planning said.
The size is important because of how busy Petersburg courts are, Teefey said.
In 2024, General District saw 24,000 cases, Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court saw 3,300, and Circuit Court had 2,800 cases.
"In total, the new courthouse will handle over 30,000 cases," Teefey said.
The new building is also designed to blend in, Shadbolt said.
"The first thing is we wanted it to be classical and to pick up on the existing courthouse," Shadbolt said. "That has six columns across the front, this building also six columns across the front."
"It is going to change the way things look here but truth be told, we need improvements in Old Towne and I think as long as they keep it to historical looking type building, I think it's awesome," Petersburg business owner Susan Steward said.
While the original idea was for the new courthouse to be built where the current courthouses stand, moving it across the street doesn't disrupt court services. When the move does take place, there are long-term plans for the area.
"The long-term plan will be to tear down the Juvenile Domestic Relations Court, General District Court," Petersburg City Manager March Altman said.
Altman said they will "be able to tear down the police station and the old jail. Once those are cleared and razed then we'll begin to look at the potential of building a city hall in the location to create a government complex."
The historic Hustings Courthouse, built in 1839 and which survived shelling from the Union Army and the 1993 tornado, will remain.
The new courthouse will also provide better security for those who work inside and those who have business there as well.
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