‘This is too much for us. . . . There is no profit anymore.’ : Courthouse Closure Puts Neighboring Stores on Death Row

The verdict is in on the courthouse in San Fernando, and for many of the merchants near the building on Maclay Avenue, it feels like the death penalty.

The 11-year-old structure, which was red-tagged after the Northridge earthquake, will remain closed for 14 months for a $15-million rebuilding program.

For some small businesses, which have come to depend on courthouse clientele for survival, 14 months might be too long.

“From the day it closed, the whole town just died,” said Nick Yohanna, who has owned Maclay Cleaners for 18 years. “I never knew it affected things this much. Every day is Sunday now.”

Yohanna said he lost about 40 customers after the courthouse closed, mostly lawyers, county sheriff’s deputies and marshals, whom he knew by name.

Kira’s Russian restaurant on Maclay and 3rd Street used to be packed with attorneys and court clerks during the day. Although the quaint, family-run operation still does good business during the lunch hour, it is empty

most of the rest of the day.

“This is too much for us,” said owner Garnik Mehrabian, who works in the restaurant, along with his wife, daughter, son, sister and brother-in-law. “We lost business during the recession, and the courthouse was the largest part of our business left before the earthquake. There is no profit anymore.”

Mehrabian said he did not feel the loss of courthouse customers for the first few weeks because the restaurant attracted a steady stream of FEMA workers. Now that most of them have moved on, he said, he will need help from the government for Kira’s to survive.

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The loss of the courthouse has hurt the tiny city’s economy, San Fernando Mayor Dan Acuna said. Several businesses affected by the closure have sought his help, and he is worried about the future.

“The courthouse means a lot to this city,” said Acuna, who at first was told the building would take six months to repair. “The longer the courthouse is not in operation, the more damage that will cause to our economy.”

A structural evaluation by a private engineering firm found that 16 support columns and many concrete walls, stairwells and pipes were damaged during the Jan. 17 earthquake, said Jim Abbott, general manager of construction and real estate for the county Internal Services Department, which is in charge of repairing county buildings.

“All the building systems are damaged to one extent or another,” he said. “I thought it was going to take $30 million.”

In addition to repairs, the tile roof will be replaced, standard seismic and fire safety upgrades will be installed, and the energy systems will be improved, Abbott said.

San Fernando, a community of 22,000, is not without its own big city-like problems. Gangs and graffiti, and the firing in January of parks Director Jess Margarito for alleged misuse of his office have blemished the city’s once-pristine reputation.

Rebuilding after the Northridge earthquake is the main political issue in the city. Luckily, the fiscally conservative city had money in its treasury and should be able to get by on budget reserves, City Administrator Mary Strenn said.

An updated assessment of buildings damaged during the temblor found that 53 structures--including 30 businesses and 87 residential units--need to be demolished, at a cost of about $47 million.

A more detailed analysis of the courthouse, which will take about 15 weeks, has begun.

Meanwhile, judges and clerks are mostly scattered between the San Fernando Municipal Court Building and Van Nuys Superior Court. Prosecutors and defense attorneys are sharing space with their Van Nuys counterparts, and some clerks are working out of the former San Fernando police station.

Despite the chaos, most San Fernando court cases are being tried on schedule and none have been dismissed or transferred, said Judge Judith M. Ashmann, who supervises the court.

“It’s like a diaspora,” Ashmann said. “But the judges I work with in San Fernando have just a wonderful attitude about it. To be a judge, all I need is my robe.”