Curran said the current courthouse is outdated and nearly 50 years old.
SPRINGFIELD – State Rep. Sean F. Curran has filed a bill, asking the Legislature to approve a study to determine if a new courthouse can be built in Springfield to replace the Hampden County Hall of Justice on State Street.
Curran, D-Springfield, said the current courthouse is outdated and nearly 50 years old.
In addition, the current courthouse is across from the proposed site of an $800 million casino project proposed by MGM Resorts International, and is near a raised section of Interstate 91 that is slated for a $400 million overhaul, Curran said.
With that investment of millions of dollars, “perhaps it’s time to rethink the entire area,” Curran said.
“With an ongoing construction of the 91-viaduct, as well as the casino project on State Street, now is the time to study the feasibility of constructing a new courthouse here in Springfield,” Curran said. “We are one of the busiest courthouses in the state and we need a facility that can meet those challenges.”
Sean F. Curran In the bill, Curran called for a study by the state Executive Office of Administration and Finance, beginning with the creation of a Hampden County Courthouse feasibility commission.
Curran said the study should consider several sites including, but not limited to the North End and South End, particularly, but not limited to: the U.S. Post Office building, the Peter Pan Bus Terminal and the current site of The Republican newspaper building, all on Main Street.
Curran said there have been new courthouses built in approximately the last decade in Boston, Fall River and Worcester. Hampden County also deserves a “state-of-the-art” courthouse, he said.
The study would also examine the cost impact of a new courthouse on the county and state, the impact of creating new construction jobs and other jobs, and ways to integrate the new courthouse with local colleges, he said.
He said his idea for a courthouse will need substantial political support from Western Massachusetts, and hopes it will be an issue for candidates for state office in the coming year.
Curran's bill proposes that the feasibility commission would include: three active or retired justices who served in Hampden County; a member of the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce; two representatives from the Hampden County Bar Association; two members of the building trades; and various representatives from other county and state agencies. It should also include appointees of the Office of Administration and Finance, and individual members or appointees of the House and Senate, the bill states.
A report should be filed with the House and Senate by Jan. 6, 2015, the bill states.
Curran says in the bill that a new 21st-century courthouse would offer “up to date wireless technology, data storage, Internet streaming, and real time courtroom audio and visual technology.”
Curran also suggested the study consider the possibility of naming the new courthouse after Judge Roderick Ireland, chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and a Springfield native.