The state’s Office of Environmental Quality Control is accepting public comment until Jan. 22 on a proposed new Kaua’i courthouse. But everything is going well, according to Jim Niermann of R.M. Towill, sub-contracting on the state-funded project and doing the
The state’s Office of Environmental Quality Control is accepting public comment until Jan. 22 on a proposed new Kaua’i courthouse.
But everything is going well, according to Jim Niermann of R.M. Towill, sub-contracting on the state-funded project and doing the environmental assessment of the proposed 112,000 square foot judiciary complex.
The facility will be built on a 6.5 acres of vacant land on Kapule Highway, near Vidinha Memorial Stadium in Lihu’e. The courthouse will be joined to Kaua’i County’s new police, prosecuting attorney and civil defense headquarters, and county transportation headquarters.
Construction, tentatively slated to begin in the spring of 2003 on the projected $34 million building, is expected to take 29 months.
“The only concern” of the Office of Environmental Quality Control was whether the new building’s height (three stories) “would intrude into the flight path” of Lihu’e Airport. But there is several hundred feet of clearance,” Niermann said.
“Compared to some other projects, this one is kind of a slam dunk. There don’t seem to be any real problems, although we won’t make a final determination until the public comment period is over,” he said.
Niermann said that noise in the vicinity, because of the airport, already exceeds standards for residential areas, but that the architects (Anbe, Aruga & Ishizu of Honolulu) are addressing that concern through sound mitigation.
The new complex, which will replace the existing courthouse in Lihu’e, will consist of three levels and contain six courtrooms, office space, court program space, conference rooms, a secured area, holding cells, legal research and archive space, and public areas with exhibit space.
There will be 286 parking spaces provided for staff and the public.
No zoning changes are required to make the project a go.
The county’s new quarters for the police, prosecutors, civil defense and transportation center is to be completed by August.
Staff writer Dennis Wilken can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) and mailto:dwilken@pulitzer.net
