Courthouse Workers Celebrate Reopening

Mariachis played and food was served Friday as workers at the newly reopened San Fernando Courthouse took time out to get reacquainted and celebrate their return to the Mission-style building.

Hundreds of employees from a handful of government agencies were displaced after the building suffered extensive internal damage in the 1994 Northridge earthquake. Most workers were temporarily transferred to the Van Nuys Civic Center, where they doubled up in tight quarters with their peers.

The courthouse reopened Jan. 15, four years after it was red-tagged by county officials.

“This is a celebration for people who have really been working in exile for four years,” said Jerrianne Hayslett, of the Los Angeles Superior Court. “Everybody is happy to be back on their home court, so to speak.”

The repairs, which cost $16.1 million, were delayed by wrangling between the county and a consortium of insurers who refused to accept the county’s evaluation of structural damage and estimates of repair costs.

Friday’s noon celebration included catered Mexican food from local favorite El Abuelo restaurant and music from the San Fernando Middle School mariachi band.