Attorney Asks If Courthouse Project Uses Space Wisely

A local attorney urged City Council Tuesday night to get feedback from the people who use the courts the most—attorneys, clerks and deputies—before deciding on the final plans of the new courthouse project in downtown Fredericksburg

Barry J. Waldman, an attorney whose practice is in Spotsylvania County, said it is important that city officials get this feedback now so that they don't find out later that the space for each of the three courts does not fit the different needs of each court.

First Choice's proposal is for a three story, 78,500 square foot, $35 million courts building constructed next to City Hall on the site of the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court at Princess Anne and Charlotte streets. Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court is already being temporarily relocated to the Executive Plaza. General District Court would be part of the new building and Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court would be relocated again back into the current General District Court building. The Renwick Building, where Circuit Court is held now, would be vacant. The city has already issued the bonds for the project.

Waldman said the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court might end up needing the largest storage needs of the three courts because the records aren't allowed to be digitized yet, but it could have a smaller court room. However, it would need a larger waiting room because most cases in JD&R court are closed to the public because of the sensitivity of the cases. He said the General District Courtroom needs to be the largest because it's used every weekday and generally has the most people in the courtroom.

"Do you know when and on what days of the months and/or quarter those generalizations are absolutely wrong? Did First Choice tell you that? Did anyone else tell you that?" he said. "How can you shrink the Circuit Court Office and even make money doing it? Have you thought about the technology that may permit you to shrink the space that you are using for storage and what current laws are in place that allow you to do that and what likely laws you will see in the next couple of years?

State law allows Circuit Courts to digitize most records, but Fredericksburg Circuit Court has not taken advantage of the technology yet. The current plans for the new building don't consider that the city could end up not needing as much storage space if it were to use the technology.

Waldman, who is also on the city's Board of Zoning Appeals and a former chairman of the Architectural Review Board, urged council members to ask a group of courthouse stakeholders if the interior space works best for today and in the future. He said he was speaking Tuesday night as a private resident of the city.

"The answer may save you some money right here and now, and it will definitely save you money in the future on retrofit requests," he said. "Oh yeah, I have to toss it in: I love the Renwick building. What are we going to do with that?"

In July, a . Matt Kelly, who was elected this past May, is leading the charge. He is joined by council members Fred Howe, Brad Ellis and Bea Paolucci, who voted against the courthouse project last year.

Correction: Barry J. Waldman's name was spelled incorrectly in an earlier version of this story.