Jewel City Bowl may lose parking
Plans to turn the Jewel City Bowl into a parking lot for a new 110,000-square foot courthouse on Broadway are off the table, according to a state report, but courthouse construction may still jeopardize the longtime facility.
Acquisition of the bowling alley proved to be too costly for state court officials, who decided to obtain the Board of Realtors site on Isabel Street for the new courthouse’s secured parking structure, said Teresa Ruano, Administrative Office of the Courts spokeswoman.
Jewel City Owner Tony Sands said while he can keep his building, his business may lose its access to its parking lot, available to patrons on evenings after business hours and on weekends. Ruano said Sands currently leases the lot on a month-to-month basis from the court system.
“We can’t really survive without a parking lot,” said Sands, adding he is looking for help from city officials.
State officials can’t guarantee that they will be able to continue to lease the parking lot to Sands because they don’t know the layout of the building yet, Ruano said.
The parking lot, she said, has always been intended for the court’s use.
“The benefit to the bowling alley owner remains to be seen,” Ruano said.
The lot is but one part of the larger plan to construct a new courthouse at the existing site on the 600 block of East Broadway. The old courthouse’s façade will remain intact with the new construction erected behind it, according to the state draft environmental report.
State officials said they plan to preserve the old courthouse’s historic features, but they must also adhere to trial court facilities standards.
The state Administrative Office of the Courts has asked the project’s architects to identify any safety and structural hazards. Any issues may result in an “adaptive reuse” of some of the building, according to the report.
State officials have agreed to meet with city staff and the City Council to discuss the project’s architectural design, and are seeking public comment for this latest version of the draft environmental report.
For More Information
Comments about the new courthouse’s draft environmental report can be sent to: Environmental Program Manager Laura Sainz at laura.sainz@jud.ca.gov. The report is also available at www.courts.ca.gov/facilities-la-glendale.htm.