Hackensack, NJ Community Message Boards

General Category => Hackensack Discussion => Topic started by: Editor on June 12, 2013, 10:34:37 PM

Title: Bergen County Justice Center Construction
Post by: Editor on June 12, 2013, 10:34:37 PM
Bergen County ready to roll on new Justice Center construction (http://www.northjersey.com/hackensack/Bergen_County_ready_to_roll_on_new_Justice_Center_construction.html?page=all)
Wednesday June 12, 2013, 9:09 PM
BY  JOHN C. ENSSLIN
STAFF WRITER
The Record

The Bergen County freeholders received a detailed briefing Wednesday on construction of the new Justice Center complex in Hackensack, which will begin in mid summer and already has arranged off-site parking.

County officials expect to break ground in August on the nearly $115 million project, which when completed in 2015 will be the largest bond project in the history of the county. It tops the Overpeck County Park project, which eventually totaled about $100 million.

The new construction along Court Street between Main and River streets, will include a six-story Justice Center and a parking deck with 500 spaces. Later, the project calls for renovation of the 101-year-old courthouse building. Some of the bond money also will go toward a new Department of Public works garage in Hackensack and a new Mosquito Control building in Paramus.

Most of the new construction will be centered in an area now used as a parking lot next to the county jail and just down the block from the courthouse. The project is aimed to relieve overcrowding and deteriorating conditions within the old courthouse. The new building will house the prosecutor and sheriff’s offices as well as the Probation Department, whose building was ruined in October by flooding from superstorm Sandy.

The new construction will enable the county to sell that building plus two others in Hackensack to offset the project’s cost, said Public Works Director Joe Crifasi. It also will free up space in the old courthouse.

Solar panels on the roof of the garage plus a a more efficient generator plant for the complex should cut the county’s energy bills in half, Crifasi said.

The freeholders Wednesday were shown schematics and artist’s renderings by representatives of RSC Architects, the Cliffside Park firm that designed the complex.

The board had unanimously approved a bond ordinance to finance the project in December 2012. In addition to the bond, county Prosecutor John Molinelli pledged $7 million in confiscated funds toward the project.

To make way for the construction zone, the freeholders last week approved spending $777,600 to lease 540 parking spaces for two years from North Jersey Media Group, Inc., near the former Record building at 150 River Street. Each space will be leased for $60 per space from July 15, 2013 through July 14, 2015 with an option to extend the lease on a month-to-month basis.

Some freeholders initially questioned the amount to be paid for the lease but said they were relieved to hear that some of the money will be recovered from income generated by the metered parking lot. Crifasi said the county’s existing metered lot generates about $600,000 annually.

Crifasi said the site will become a fenced-off construction zone by August when site work begins. Actual construction begins in December and is expected to take two years.

During that time, court business will continue as normal in the old courthouse. The county will provide shuttle buses to carry people from the temporary lot in a 7-10 minute ride, Crifasi said.

Email: ensslin@northjersey.com
Title: Re: Bergen County Justice Center Construction
Post by: irons35 on June 13, 2013, 09:41:31 AM
I really hope that the architect kept in mind(or even was told) that area floods often and that they do not build a basement into the building, and that they build the first floor higher than the water came up during the last storm.  But being that it is a government project I doubt it...
Title: Re: Bergen County Justice Center Construction
Post by: Editor on June 13, 2013, 10:52:56 PM
From North Jersey Media, here (http://blog.northjersey.com/bergenbeat/8616/this-just-in-first-look-at-new-justice-center/). 

I wasn't expecting this.  I really like the design but it seems very big in comparison to the original courthouse. But then again, space was the issue in the first place.

Click to enlarge.
Title: Re: Bergen County Justice Center Construction
Post by: just watching on June 15, 2013, 08:54:23 PM
What will happen to the old courthouse.  What will it be used for, and will it still be a high-security building.
Title: Re: Bergen County Justice Center Construction
Post by: Editor on September 04, 2013, 09:06:22 PM
Officials break ground on Bergen County Justice Center complex in Hackensack
Wednesday September 4, 2013, 5:57 PM
BY  JOHN C. ENSSLIN
STAFF WRITER
The Record

Bergen County officials broke ground Wednesday on a new justice center complex in Hackensack that will be the largest public works project in the county’s history with an estimated cost of nearly $115 million.

(http://media.northjersey.com/images/300*232/090413justice_dngre.jpg)
Bergen County officials break ground on the new justice center next to the old county courthouse. Bergen County Executive Kathleen Donovan, center with shovel.
MICHAEL KARAS / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Bergen County officials break ground on the new justice center next to the old county courthouse. Bergen County Executive Kathleen Donovan, center with shovel.

When the entire project is completed in the winter of 2015, it will feature a new six-story building next to the old county jail on what had been a parking lot. That building will house the offices of the prosecutor, sheriff and probation department.

A two-story walkway will connect the new building with the existing 101-year-old County Courthouse, which will undergo a major renovation and will have more room once the sheriff and prosecutor move out.

There also will be a new parking garage with 500 spaces and a covered top deck with a solar array.

 “This project has been near and dear to my heart,” said Bergen County Assignment Judge Peter Doyne, who said getting a new courthouse has been his top priority for several years.

During that time, Doyne said he took many county officials on a walking tour of the old building to show them how overcrowded, antiquated and inefficient the facility had become.

Doyne said he was pleased that the project had bipartisan support with all seven freeholders and County Executive Kathleen Donovan supporting it.

 “The people of Bergen County deserve a world class facility,” Donovan said after she and a group of officials tossed ceremonial shovels-full of dirt onto the now stripped bare former parking lot.

 “One hundred years from now, when a whole new generation of our grandchildren are here, they’re going to say this is a good thing that we did today,” she added.

Donovan thanked several officials for helping with the project, including County Prosecutor John Molinelli, who contributed $7 million in forfeiture funds from his office to get the project started.

Molinelli said the building will be a tribute to the law enforcement officers and prosecutors who handled the cases that led to the seizure of those funds from drug dealers and gang members.

He recalled being in awe of the courthouse as a teenager when his mother used to drop him off to watch trials. But as a prosecutor, Molinelli said he realized how the building had fallen into disrepair.

Public Works Director Joseph Crifasi kidded Molinelli about his contribution to the building’s design, noting that it was the prosecutor’s urging that led to the walkway connecting the two buildings.

Crifisi said the building will have several other unique features. The county fuel pump station will be moved from the parking lot to the former Goldberg slipper factory site on River Street across from the County Jail.

In its place will be a generator plant that will be more efficient that the current building’s power source and will ensure that the county complex does not have to shut down during power outages as it did after Superstorm Sandy.

He said the new complex will also feature a pedestrian alley called “Jail Place” between the old jail and the justice center building. The name is taken from a street name found on old maps of the area.

Email: ensslin@northjersey.com

- See more at: http://www.northjersey.com/hackensack/Officials_break_ground_on_Bergen_County_Justice_Center_complex_in_Hackensack.html?page=all#sthash.LDe4NTrx.dpuf
Title: Re: Bergen County Justice Center Construction
Post by: Homer Jones on September 04, 2013, 10:02:21 PM
Hope it's not the same contractor who is doing the Anderson Street station.
Title: Re: Bergen County Justice Center Construction
Post by: BLeafe on April 03, 2014, 06:03:26 PM
Here's what the scene looked like 3 weeks ago when I took a 6-photo stitch from the parking garage:

(click to enlarge)



Title: Re: Bergen County Justice Center Construction
Post by: Editor on May 08, 2014, 12:27:18 PM
Bergen County freeholders draw assurance that Justice Center construction won’t become ‘monster’ of extra cost
May 7, 2014, 10:09 PM    Last updated: Thursday, May 8, 2014, 8:08 AM
By JOHN C. ENSSLIN
staff writer
The Record

As costs mount on the Bergen County Justice Center, several freeholders expressed concern Wednesday that the $147 million project not become what one called “another Overpeck.”

Freeholder Steve Tanelli made that reference to the history of growing costs that drove the price of Overpeck County Park to just over $100 million, making it a political issue in subsequent county elections. Overpeck had been the largest public works project in county history until it was eclipsed last year by the new Justice Center project, which also includes a parking deck, renovations of the historic 102-year-old court house and construction of a Public Works garage, all in Hackensack.

http://www.northjersey.com/news/bergen-county-freeholders-draw-assurance-that-justice-center-construction-won-t-become-monster-of-extra-cost-1.1011114
Title: Re: Bergen County Justice Center Construction
Post by: Editor on July 29, 2014, 10:46:49 PM
http://www.northjersey.com/news/judge-upholds-contract-on-proposed-bergen-county-justice-center-1.1058602
Title: Re: Bergen County Justice Center Construction
Post by: Editor on August 20, 2014, 12:46:05 AM
Judge rejects second challenge to Bergen County Justice Center construction bid

AUGUST 19, 2014, 7:19 PM    LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2014, 10:19 PM
BY JOHN C. ENSSLIN
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
 
A state appeals court judge on Tuesday cleared the way for work to begin on building Bergen County’s new justice center by denying a Wood-Ridge company’s request to halt work on the project until its lawsuit against the county can be decided.

In a two-page ruling, Judge Alexander P. Waugh denied Terminal Construction Corp. request for a stay on a $65.9-million contract the county awarded to Dobco Construction Services of Wayne.

- See more at: http://www.northjersey.com/news/judge-rejects-second-challenge-to-bergen-county-justice-center-construction-bid-1.1069756#sthash.DTkA07Up.dpuf
Title: Re: Bergen County Justice Center Construction
Post by: Editor on August 21, 2014, 11:26:04 PM
Lawyers take Bergen County Justice Center dispute to N.J. Supreme Court
August 21, 2014, 5:18 PM    Last updated: Thursday, August 21, 2014, 5:45 PM
By JOHN C. ENSSLIN
Staff Writer
The Record

Lawyers for a Wood-Ridge company that lost its appeal to block work on the Bergen County Justice Center have filed preliminary paperwork with state Supreme Court asking for a review of the matter.

Earlier this week, an Appellate Court judge denied a request by lawyers for Terminal Construction Corp. to order work stopped on the project until the courts can hear the firm's appeal of the county's decision to award the $65.9 million contract to Dobco Construction Services of Wayne.

http://www.northjersey.com/news/lawyers-take-bergen-county-justice-center-dispute-to-n-j-supreme-court-1.1071141
Title: Re: Bergen County Justice Center Construction
Post by: Editor on August 23, 2014, 09:41:12 PM
NJ Supreme Court allows construction to continue on Bergen County Justice Center

AUGUST 22, 2014, 11:18 AM    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, AUGUST 22, 2014, 4:21 PM
BY MICHAEL PHILLIS
STATE HOUSE BUREAU

The state Supreme Court has turned down a request by a construction company that wants work halted on the new Bergen County Justice Center in Hackensack.

- See more at: http://www.northjersey.com/news/nj-supreme-court-allows-construction-to-continue-on-bergen-county-justice-center-1.1072150#sthash.SD9x33iQ.dpuf
Title: Re: Bergen County Justice Center Construction
Post by: BLeafe on September 01, 2014, 02:43:37 PM
Hackensack neighbors cope with shake, rattle, roll of courthouse pile-driving work [video]

August 31, 2014, 9:25 PM    Last updated: Monday, September 1, 2014, 8:25 AM
By Linh Tat
staff writer
The Record


Since the pile driving started near the Bergen County Courthouse in Hackensack earlier this year, John McCann has been eating more Atkins bars. He says they help to stave off the waves of nausea that come from listening to hours of pounding steel and feeling the floor sway from the vibrations.

“You get seasick over here,” said McCann, the general counsel for the Sheriff’s Office. “It feels like you’re going on a cruise without the benefits.” His window faces the construction site.

The thump, thump, thumping began in early May, when workers pounded in a test batch of the steel piles. By the end, they will have pounded 500 piles into the earth to firm up the ground under what is to be the new Bergen County Justice Center, next to the old county jail on Court Street. The $147 million project includes a parking deck, renovations to the 102-year-old courthouse and construction of a public works garage.

Continue: http://www.northjersey.com/news/hackensack-neighbors-cope-with-shake-rattle-roll-of-courthouse-pile-driving-work-video-1.1078893?page=all

NOTE: I can hear the pounding a mile away. It would be interesting to find out how far away Hackensack residents can hear this. Post with your approximate location and let's find out.



Title: Re: Bergen County Justice Center Construction
Post by: just watching on September 11, 2014, 08:40:58 PM
I think all the big projects planned for downtown Hackensack are going to involve similar pile driving.  The base geology is the base.
Title: Re: Bergen County Justice Center Construction
Post by: BLeafe on September 19, 2014, 04:20:21 PM
Six months later, it's time for another photo stitch (3 images) from the top of the county parking garage. It's far from my best work, but it gives you an idea of where the construction is at right now. After that are related and sorta-related images.

1 - The stitch

2,3. - The top deck of the county building parking garage, with and without color

4 - The reason for all the pounding this summer

5-8 - Various scenes on the site

9 - As I waited for an elevator to go back to ground level, I saw this, uh....thing on the wall between the two elevators. The elevator on the right suddenly opened, so I stuck my foot in it to keep the door open while I leaned back to take a picture of this thing whose name suddenly popped into my head. Think "Uhhh......uh, huh, huh."

10 - Walking through the ground floor of the garage, I heard strange bird noises close by, but saw no birds. Then I saw the speakers on the wall. The sounds kept intruding pigeons at least a full 20' away, but beyond that they were hanging out on cars, posing for the camera.

Title: Re: Bergen County Justice Center Construction
Post by: BLeafe on October 21, 2014, 11:33:25 AM
Front-page photo in today's Record..........looks like an archeological dig (no article):

Title: Re: Bergen County Justice Center Construction
Post by: Homer Jones on October 21, 2014, 01:21:31 PM
Better hope they don't find anything down there; otherwise, the archeologists will be down there digging with spoons instead of construction equipment.
Title: Re: Bergen County Justice Center Construction
Post by: BLeafe on January 22, 2015, 08:41:31 PM
Update:

1. This was a 3-photo stitch, but #3 didn't line up. Now, it's a 2-photo stitch that cut off part of the right side, so.................

2. ...........here's the missing part.

3. The light bluish building in the center is the new apartment building on State St.

4. Archeological rebar dig

5. At first glance from a different angle, I thought this might be an outdoor urinal.

6, 7. Two more construction pix

8, 9. Two non-construction pix from the top deck of the parking garage

10. Have a nice glass of brine at the exit.

11. The type of picture you take after a nice glass of brine

12. While stopped at a light on the way home, I took a picture of the State St apartment next to the new cultural arts center.


Title: Bergen County Justice Center Construction - Verticality!
Post by: BLeafe on March 26, 2015, 08:46:01 PM
1. Some talented artist had an easel set up in the top-floor stairwell of the parking garage. Since I shot this through glass, there are lots of reflections.

2. I can't imagine what this area will look like inside when it's finished.

3,4. The first image isn't that interesting, but when you see the same scene in the second one......................

5. This is a 3-image photo stitch taken from the NE corner of the parking garage

Title: BC construction: Mystery artist identified
Post by: BLeafe on April 02, 2015, 02:35:16 PM
This was in today's Record.

With reference to the first picture in the previous post, someone else has noticed:


Title: Re: Bergen County Justice Center Construction
Post by: Editor on April 21, 2015, 02:42:26 PM
http://www.northjersey.com/news/tedesco-bergen-county-justice-center-to-cost-more-than-expected-1.1313559
Title: Re: Bergen County Justice Center Construction
Post by: BLeafe on September 19, 2015, 01:36:36 PM
Almost 6 months later, it looks a little different.

I tried a somewhat different way of photostitching and it come out looking great.................if you don't look at the courthouse dome and two other places.

Click to enlarge.



Title: Re: Bergen County Justice Center Construction
Post by: BLeafe on December 31, 2015, 02:00:12 PM
This is how things looked on Christmas Day, 2015.


Click to enlarge.
Title: Re: Bergen County Justice Center Construction
Post by: BLeafe on February 29, 2016, 07:45:25 PM
Big changes to the middle building in the last 2 months - compare the stitches.

Click to enlarge.


Title: Re: Bergen County Justice Center Construction
Post by: BLeafe on October 24, 2016, 10:47:24 PM
I thought they'd be totally finished by now, but................

This 3-photo stitch was taken yesterday and it has two glitches.


CLICKit!
Title: Re: Bergen County Justice Center Construction
Post by: Editor on March 06, 2017, 01:53:15 PM
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2017/03/prweb14119926.htm

http://www.northjersey.com/story/news/bergen/2017/02/28/new-county-building-opens-hackensack/98530292/
Title: Re: Bergen County Justice Center Construction
Post by: Editor on March 24, 2017, 02:16:22 PM
http://www.northjersey.com/story/news/bergen/2017/03/23/bergen-courthouse-renovations-cost-80-million/99515918/

(Another project.  May start new thread.  Putting here for now).
Title: Re: Bergen County Justice Center Construction
Post by: BLeafe on May 10, 2017, 03:45:33 PM
I did a quick 3-photo stitch today of the fully-completed project.


Click it to enlarge and scroll to the left.