Courthouse funding measure awaits governor’s signature

BANGOR – State lawmakers have enacted a bill authorizing a new courthouse in Bangor and some initial funding to get the project rolling.

The bill, LD 1687, was enacted late Friday, shortly before the legislative session adjourned. It has been sent to Gov. John Baldacci, who is expected to sign it within the next week or two.

“It’s a definite step forward in this project,” said Ed Kelleher, public information officer for the state’s court system. He credited the bill’s main sponsor, Sen. Joseph Perry, D-Bangor, and members of the Bangor and Penobscot County legislative delegations and other supporters for getting the bill through the legislative approval process.

“The Penobscot County courthouse serves a significant area and the district court in Bangor also has a large jurisdiction,” Kelleher said.

The bill authorized the Maine Government Facilities Authority to issue bonds totaling up to $37 million for the new courthouse.

The state court system plans to move Penobscot County’s court operations from the corner of Hammond and Court streets to the corner of Exchange and Washington streets overlooking Kenduskeag Stream, a site identified as B-13 and owned by the city of Bangor. The new building would be secure for the public, court staff, jurors, lawyers, defendants and others, court officials have said.

The new building would house Penobscot County Superior Court and 3rd District Court and likely associated offices. Planning and constructing the new building is expected to take more than three years.

Project supporters hailed the move Monday as another major advance for the $37 million project.

“I’m very pleased with this development,” Bangor attorney James Nixon, president of the Penobscot County Bar Association, said Monday.

The courthouse project had “broad support” among bar members, including attorneys Paul Chaiken, Kevin Cuddy and John Logan, a past president of the Maine Bar Association, who took leadership roles in the lobbying effort, Nixon said.

City and county officials also supported the project.

“Obviously we’re pleased, not only that the Legislature saw fit to approve the project, but that it also was able to find the funding needed to get the project moving,” City Manager Edward Barrett said Monday.

Though the City Council and the Penobscot County Commission originally wanted the new courthouse to be built at the current location, both bodies signed a resolve supporting the B-13 site after it became apparent that retrofitting a new court building on the existing campus would be cost-prohibitive.