After decades of delays and missteps the new courthouse receives the finishing touches as it prepares to open for business.
A long-awaited East County Courts project in the heart of Gresham's Rockwood neighborhood could be just what's needed to jumpstart the town center's redevelopment.
Completion of the project represents a commitment to an area left behind long ago.
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East County Courts Bldg, 185th & SE Stark St. Opening April 2012. Click to enlarge
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The new $19.6 million 40,000-square-foot three-floor facility will have three courtrooms, with room for future expansion to six, an office for the district attorney, a sheriff's department security office, court business office, a data center in the basement and a drop-in child care facility for visitors.
The courthouse will serve people being adjudicated for misdemeanors, violations, small claims, landlord and tenant actions, ex parte hearings and document filing for all civil and domestic relations actions - many of which were previously filed at the overcrowded downtown Portland courthouse. The new courthouse is only for civil matters. It will not include a detention facility, nor will felony cases be heard.
Funding for the new courthouse includes $15 million from Recovery Zone Economic Development (stimulus) Bonds. The remaining portion will be funded from the 2008 sale of the South Edgefield property.