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Construction work has started on a new East County Hall of Justice in Dublin..
The East County Hall of Justice is being built adjacent to Alameda County’s Santa Rita Jail on 20 acres of county-owned land.
It will include two buildings, a 42,276-square-foot County building and a 146,435-square-foot court building, including a 13-courtroom courthouse. The two buildings will be joined by a 7,500 square foot common entry lobby.
The new courthouse will replace a long-term leased facility in Pleasanton and will incorporate court departments from other locations in the county for improved access to court-related services for east county residents.
The project is the result of an extended planning effort initiated in 2001 by the County of Alameda and the Superior Court of California to develop a state-of-the art justice campus serving eastern Alameda County.
The new justice campus will provide both County and court services to support the current and future needs of the residents of eastern Alameda County.
“We are very excited to see construction of this important project under way at last,” said Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty. “Thanks to a lengthy collaboration involving Alameda County and the state of California, this state-
of-the-art complex will provide much-needed law and justice services to the residents of eastern Alameda County.”
The complex will include offices of the county’s District Attorney, the Public Defender and Probation Department, all to be located in the two-story county building and with easy access to the new courthouse.
The large campus will include substantial parking for county staff, court employees, law enforcement officers and the public including jurors.
The project is being managed by the Alameda County General Services Agency Technical Services Division team. The design-build general contractor is Hensel Phelps Construction, with the final design developed by Fentress Architects of San Jose.
The justice complex is designed using proven materials, means and methods of construction that emphasize durability, comfort and safety. The building systems are intended to optimize economy of operation for the county, which will own the County building, and the state, who will own the court building.
The East County Justice Center complex and grounds are designed to meet high resource conservation standards in order to obtain a LEED Silver certification as set by the U.S. Green Building Council.
Construction actually began last month and will take approximately 29 months to complete, with occupancy scheduled for early 2017.
This will result in more traffic at the I-580/Hacienda exit. Not only that, court house will bring all kinds of people to the area – crime committers, parolees, their friends and relatives – jut don’t feel that safe around Tri-Valley area as before. Couple this with the Santa Rita Jail housing all kinds of inmates, with some being released through-out the day, this whole area is heading downhill.
Have you considered moving?
I find it curious that years ago they scaled back considerable the activity at the Pleasanton court house and forced people to go to Oakland or Fremont. Why is this money being spent when they could simply increase the number of cases being heard at the Pleasanton court house?
On the other hand, it may be good for Pleasanton that the flow of criminals will be to Dublin, rather than Pleasanton.
Cholo, have you considered moving?
What difference does it make if the court house is in Pleasanton or Dublin? The cities are right next to each other anyway. Also, if an inmate is in Santa Rita Jail, they won’t have to be transported to court, court would be right on the same grounds – which makes more sense.
I like it where I presently live…sawwy…the Cholo
Fabulous discussion! Very civil! Very pithy! “Deport Cholo” — nice!
I thought the court system in California was worst then flat broke. They were closing courthouses left and right to save money. Now they are building a brand new building to take the place of one that is perfectly fine. Crazy waste of money. Lived in Pleasanton for over 25 years and have been called for jury duty at the Pleasanton courthouse once. Except for this one time, every year I get called to the courthouses either in Hayward or Oakland. Seems absolutly stupid that I have to waste my time and gas to go to these cities when I could literally walk to the Pleasanton courthouse. You know that once the courthouse in Pleasanton is closed, the property owner will want to turn this parcel into high rise high density housing.