State Plans $98M Three-Court Judicial Center

HARRISBURG, PA-The state General Assembly has allocated $98.4 million, or approximately $298 per sf, for construction of a new judicial center to be located at Commonwealth and North streets here in the Capitol Complex. It will consolidate the Pennsylvania Supreme, Superior and Commonwealth courts, each of which is currently located in different Downtown buildings.

Gov. Ed Rendell and Supreme Court Chief Justice Ralph Cappy unveiled initial drawings for the building’s design and construction. They call for a nine-story, 330,000-sf facility and the addition of 1,700 parking spaces to replace those lost to this new construction. Project design is scheduled for completion in August 2005 and construction is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2008.

The building will stand between the Finance and the Health and Welfare buildings in the complex. “The Judicial Center will ensure for the first time, the courts of Pennsylvania have one home that is befitting of the vital and important role they play,” says Rendell. “By locating the facility in the Capitol Complex, the courts will have a prominent and proper place to conduct their business side by side with the legislative and executive branches.”

Cappy adds, “The building will appropriately reflect the status of Pennsylvania’s judiciary as a coequal brand of government with the legislative and executive branches.” Donald T. Cunningham Jr., secretary of General Services, expressed confidence that the project would be completed on time and on budget even though the budget appropriation was approved more than three years ago.