Verdict Is In: Santa Ana Gets Courthouse : Expansion: In a decision that ends months of uncertaintly, the city is chosen over Irvine and Laguna Niguel as the site for the county’s permanent federal facility.

A new $80-million federal courthouse for Orange County will be built in Santa Ana, which edged out Irvine and Laguna Niguel for the massive public works project, Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach) said Monday. The announcement ended months of uncertainty over the site for the facility that will replace the cramped temporary quarters for federal judges in downtown Santa Ana.

The decision was welcomed by Santa Ana officials, who earlier this year feared they could have lost the project.

“This is an important milestone in the city of Santa Ana’s 20-year effort to establish a permanent federal court in our Civic Center,” City Manager David N. Ream said.

Mayor Pro Tem Miguel A. Pulido Jr. called the decision “tremendous” for the city’s future. “I think that strictly based on the merits,” he added, “the federal courthouse should be based in Santa Ana.”

The 218,000-square-foot structure is expected to be a magnet for law offices and other businesses that serve the legal community, such as messenger services and copy houses. The influx of new enterprises that is expected could give a significant boost to the local economy.

In order to be chosen, Santa Ana offered to donate a four-acre Civic Center site bounded by 5th, 4th and Ross streets. The city has also promised parking spaces for courthouse employees.

The House Public Works and Transportation Committee last spring authorized construction of the courthouse in Santa Ana, but it stipulated that the site could be changed at any time up until today, the first day of the 1992 federal fiscal year.

Cox, a member of the subcommittee on public buildings and grounds, took no action to change the committee’s earlier authorization. Cox said the chairmen of the full committee and the public buildings subcommittee have agreed to confirm in writing their decision to proceed with the Santa Ana site.

The House Appropriations Committee has already voted to spend $250,000 in fiscal 1992 to begin design work on the courthouse. That figure could rise as House and Senate members haggle over differing versions of bills to finance the Treasury, Postal Service, General Services Administration and other government agencies. The estimated total design cost for the Orange County structure is $3.95 million.

“I am anxious to get the entire amount appropriated this year so we can accelerate the actual construction,” Cox said. However, several congressional aides said it is unlikely that all the money for design costs will be earmarked this year.

Although it will be several years before the facility is built, Pulido said that at least Santa Ana has secured its position as the government headquarters of the county.

“As we go on in the future, we know it’s coming--no one can tell you when--but we know we just went through a major hurdle and we made it.”

Because Santa Ana is the county seat and had already been named as the courthouse site, officials were stung when Irvine and Laguna Niguel last summer offered strongly competitive bids.

The General Services Administration, the agency that oversees the construction and operation of federal buildings, initially recommended Laguna Niguel as the preferred site, citing the potential for lower construction costs. But the agency reversed itself last July to say the courthouse should be built in Santa Ana.

In its July report, the GSA said the Santa Ana site is preferred by leaders of the federal judiciary; that it has more immediately available parking for jurors and visitors; that it is better served by public transportation; that it is large enough to accommodate future expansion, and that it would require no more in construction funds than the other sites.

Irvine Mayor Sally Anne Sheridan disputed the GSA’s conclusion in an Aug. 21 letter to the agency’s administrator. But Cox said the agency addressed to his satisfaction the concerns raised in that letter.

“I’m frankly amazed that we have come full circle in a period of months, from having no new courthouse at all to an authorization,” Cox said.

The only federal judges now sitting in Orange County hold court in a 30,000-square-foot leased building. Most federal cases involving Orange County residents are still heard in Los Angeles. Cox has maintained that the county’s population--2.4 million--justifies a permanent courthouse to serve its residents.

After Cox’s announcement, Sheridan downplayed her city’s interest, maintaining that Irvine became involved only because federal officials had invited the city to submit a bid. Irvine’s proposal offered 3.5 acres of land donated by the Irvine Co.

“What’s critical for my city right now is getting things that generate sales-tax revenues,” Sheridan said. “A courthouse does not generate sales-tax revenues.”

Laguna Niguel Mayor Patricia C. Bates said Santa Ana succeeded because it persuaded federal officials that its site offered accessibility and other advantages that would make it a fiscally prudent choice.

“We, as citizens, have to feel good about that because it was not made hastily,” Bates said of the choice. “It was not a political decision.”

Stewart reported from Washington and Martinez from Santa Ana.

A Nod to Santa Ana as Courthouse Site

Santa Ana was chosen over Irvine and Laguna Niguel as the site for the county’s new courthouse. The project is expected to be a boon to the downtown area.

Source: General Services Administration