Columnist Jeff German: ‘Project from hell’ is opening

Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2005 | 10:36 a.m.

A lot of people in county government thought this day would never come.

More than 3 1/2 years behind schedule and millions of dollars over budget, the 17-story Regional Justice Center downtown, the "project from hell," is ready to be occupied.

County officials tell me they expect to get their temporary certificate of occupancy from the city of Las Vegas any day now so that the process of moving into the $130 million high-rise can begin on Sept. 30.

If all goes well, on Oct. 4 the county's busy Marriage License Bureau will be the first to leave the crowded, worn-out old courthouse nearby and open for business in the new high-tech spacious digs.

That move will be followed over the next month by the district judges, clerk's office, justices of the peace, district attorney's office, municipal judges and Nevada Supreme Court.

No one is happier to see the building occupied than County Aviation Director Randy Walker, a seasoned administrator the county assigned 3 1/2 years ago to light a fire under the project's slow-moving general contractor, which many believe was in over its head.

"I'm feeling great," Walker says. "It's been a long, frustrating experience -- one I don't hope to repeat."

Since kicking the contractor, AF Construction, off the property several months ago, Walker says, the county has been able to fix most of the building's problems, including its many leaks and cases of mold.

And now it's time to fix the justice system.

"I can tell you what a great relief it is to be able to move into a facility designed to accommodate a court system in the 21st Century," says Chuck Short, the county's chief court executive, who is overseeing the $500,000 move.

The Regional Justice Center, with its imported marble floors and countertops and large sandstone-trimmed atrium, is not only pleasing to the eye, it also has the latest technology built into its walls.

Each high-ceilinged courtroom has five video cameras hooked to either television or flat screen computer monitors -- all designed to handle modern courtroom presentations, as well as television and Internet coverage.

Judges will be able to control all of the electrical equipment with touch-tone computer screens from the bench.

District Judge Stewart Bell, who has been pushing to centralize the justice system for more than a decade, says he can't wait to move into his new 15th floor courtroom on Oct. 7.

The public, he says, is going to love the building and feel very secure.

"It's a shame that it took so long, but it's going to be more convenient and safer for the public," he says. "It's going to be the efficient operation we don't have now."

The building is designed so that the public never has to come in contact with the hundreds of inmates who regularly appear in court each day. There are separate hallways and elevators for the public, employees and inmates.

All prisoners will be transported to the Regional Justice Center through an underground tunnel connected to the detention center across the street. They'll wait for their court appearances in holding tanks enclosed by bullet-proof glass.

Despite the excitement at the courthouse over the move, which will bring the justice system out of the Dark Ages, a cloud still hangs over the "project from hell."

Walker says the county is likely to be embroiled in a legal fight with AF Construction for years over millions of dollars in construction costs.

And Short says he's worried that there may not be enough nearby parking for the public as the facility steps into high gear.

"It won't be a problem on Day 1, but it could be a problem within the first couple of years," he says.

Then there's the one question that nobody has answered: Why did it take county officials so long to get to this point?

"It makes all of us in government look bad to see a project of this importance and magnitude go so far south," says Sheriff Bill Young.

"I've yet to see anybody in government stand up and take responsibility for this."