New Courthouse Opens – Long Beach, California

On Monday September 9, 2013, the new Governor George Deukmejian Courthouse in Long Beach had its first day on the record. The new courthouse is 65% bigger than the previous facility down the street. It has 24 courtrooms, six elevators, escalators, stairs cases and a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. If there is a need for more courtrooms, it can add six more. It also added wireless internet access in the building.

The previous location had a set of problems that could no longer be ignored. The old location was no longer adequate to meet the demands of the community of Long Beach. Lines would extend outside the building; there were issues of overcrowding, rodent and cockroach infestations, as well as security concerns.

According to the spokesperson for the state Administrative Office of the Courts, the financial backing for this courthouse was met from a combination of private and public funding. This new approach for private and public funding for public projects was started by former governor Schwarzenegger. The plan is that the developer paid for the construction of the building upfront, in turn the state of California will repay that amount plus interest over a 35 year period.

Here is a video of the new courthouse provided courtesy of Gazettes.com

If you are having trouble viewing the video, you can see it here.