Collegiate Times

Construction of the $30 million project is set to last about two years.

Construction on the new Montgomery County Courthouse breaks ground Friday after nearly 15 years of planning and close to $30 million of county money.

The project will consist of creating a four-story county courthouse, a new parking structure, renovating the old courthouse to become a public safety building and a two-story addition to the county jail.

The old courthouse, located in downtown Christiansburg on the blocks between First, Pepper, Franklin and East Main Streets, was designed in 1975, but was not put into use until 1979.

The building itself has become a source of concern for members of the county court system because of the out-of-date security standards. The new building will offer upgraded security measures.

"The construction contract was approved in August by the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors," said Ruth Richey, a county spokesperson. "The building will have extensive security features to safely transfer inmates from jail to the courthouse."

The architecture firm that submitted the design for the new courthouse is Thompson & Litton, while the bidding for the construction job went to DeVere Construction Company out of Alpena, Mich.

"Anytime projects like this are in the public sector it's exciting," said Jack Murphy the project manager for T&L. "It takes a lot of compromise to get an end result. But the bidding market is very good right now, and the low bid was 20 percent below the county estimates."

According to Murphy, contractors working on projects in this area are not typically located so far away. However, the bid submitted by the Devere Company beat out 11 other bids, including bids from Kenbridge Construction and BurWil Construction.

Initially, Montgomery County had allotted for around $30 million in construction costs alone, but received a bid for $19.1 million.

The county is estimating, after including the costs of the other projects and finalizing renovations, the total cost to be $30 million.

New security features include an underground tunnel creating independent routes for the public, inmates and staff from the jail to the courthouse.

There will also be a single point of entry for the public with full security screening, different courts on each level and card access with camera surveillance for staff entry.

The main purpose of the tunnel is to transfer inmates from their holding cells to either holding rooms where they await trail, or to elevators that will bring them directly to their respective courtrooms.

"This provides a way to separate the public, staff and inmates from each other," Murphy said. "It will also provide heating to the building as a better means of energy management."

Energy efficiency is another selling point of the new county building.

"Most architects feel that it is practically our responsibility to embrace environmental efficiency in whatever we design," Murphy said. "Certain features of the new building will be specifically for energy efficiency but we are not pursuing a specific (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification."

Some of these practical sustainable designs include a roof garden and sustainable heating systems, according to Richey.

The parking structure will be two stories and hold 137 spaces. The additions to the jail and the courthouse construction will be done in approximately 2 years.

"This project has been a long time coming," Murphy said. "But ultimately it will be a good project for the county."