Houlton gets funding for court consolidation plan

HOULTON – For more than two years, visitors to the Aroostook County Superior Court building in Houlton have noticed something different about it – mainly the fact that it also contains offices for the clerks of Houlton District Court.

The entire building soon will undergo a drastic change now that the Legislature has approved a plan to move forward with a project that will permanently move the District Court offices across the street to Superior Court.

The state court system asked the Legislature for bonding authority to spend up to $2.5 million on the consolidation project, and Aroostook County Administrator Doug Beaulieu said Thursday that he believes all the money that was requested was approved.

“We are extremely excited,” Beaulieu said. “It’s up to the court system, but we are ready for construction to begin anytime.”

County commissioners began talking about consolidating the two buildings more than two years ago, after a pipe burst in the District Court building and forced the staff to work out of Superior Court.

Now that the Legislature has agreed to move forward with the project, the second and third floors of the Superior Court will undergo extensive renovation.

A new courtroom will be created on the second floor, so that the building will have two courtrooms, and a clerk’s office also will be located on that floor. The building will feature a more secure judge’s chamber, two functioning elevators and a new heating and air-flow system.

The third floor will house another clerk’s office, the jury deliberation room and a law library.

Features in the building will be compliant with standards set forth by the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.

Once the consolidation is complete, the county will decide what to do with the District Court building. The building, for instance, could be used by the county for additional jail space or to meet other needs.

The county also could decide to return the District Court building to the town of Houlton after it is vacated. The town turned the building over to the county in 1973.

Commissioners had estimated that construction on the consolidation project could begin as early as November, but no date has been decided on yet, according to Beaulieu.