New Courthouse Is Ahead of Schedule

Although the start on construction of the West Valley’s first county courthouse was delayed many years, work now underway is several months ahead of schedule, officials said Tuesday.

The $65-million Superior Court, the third Superior Court building in the San Fernando Valley, should be completed by April, said Gene Frey, project superintendent with Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction Co., the courthouse builder. Completion had originally been scheduled for next summer.

“It’s wonderful they’re going so fast--it seldom happens,” said Julie Wheeler, a county official.

After the courthouse is completed, it will take about two or three months for officials to test equipment and move in furniture, Wheeler said.

Officials estimate the courthouse at 9425 Penfield Ave., near the corner of Winnetka Avenue and Prairie Street, will get about 500,000 visitors each year.

Traffic will probably increase on Prairie, which motorists must travel to reach the courthouse’s only public entrance on Penfield, officials said. An emergency entrance for firefighters will be built on Plummer Street.

There will be an underground parking garage for judges and about 730 parking spaces for employees and the public at the 300,000-square-foot site.

The exterior will be of granite, glass and aluminum. There will be 10 courtrooms on the basement, first and second floors and space for six more courtrooms on the third floor, which will house district and city attorney’s offices, that can be completed on a later date.

Last February, a Superior Court opened near Los Angeles International Airport and another is being designed for the Antelope Valley. The three courthouses are part of eight structures originally planned by the county after passage of a 1996 law intended to ease overcrowding and improve judicial efficiency.