Courting the U.S. Courthouse : * County Will Win No Matter Which City Gets Federal Building

The federal government, no doubt, would love to have more problems like the one it faces in choosing between competing host cities for a new courthouse in Orange County.

The $75-million project, which was the subject of a congressional subcommittee hearing in Irvine Monday, has attracted suitors from Laguna Niguel, Santa Ana and Irvine. While there may be some drawbacks with various proposals, all the prospective host cities seem to have compelling reasons for selection.

That puts the House subcommittee on government buildings and grounds in an envious position. It wasn’t too long ago that a new federal courthouse anywhere in Orange County seemed a remote possibility. How far things have progressed.

Laguna Niguel already had won support from the General Services Administration because the courthouse could be built on property already owned by the federal government. But now Santa Ana Mayor Daniel H. Young says that his city would donate 5 acres of city-owned land in the Civic Center area. He also notes that the county seat is his city, and that it is centrally located.

The Irvine Co., with the enthusiastic support of the city of Irvine, offers land in the Irvine Spectrum business center at the junctures of the Santa Ana, San Diego and Laguna freeways. Mayor Sally Anne Sheridan has been trumpeting that site as “the most compelling location in all of Orange County from every perspective--visibility, accessibility, business growth and ancillary services.” Laguna Niguel, meanwhile, has a site on 92 acres nicely located between Los Angeles and San Diego, with available parking and room for growth in the area.

It’s a far cry from the current leased 30,000-square-foot temporary structure. A congressional panel is supposed to make a decision before the end of the current fiscal year.

But for Orange County, the selection of a site is a nice dilemma.