Court construction two-thirds done

! New court building will also free up space for police department

By Kate Ward

Posted: July 27, 2009 at 6:52 a.m.

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FAYETTEVILLE — Construction of the new Fayetteville District Court building is more than halfway finished, the facility's construction manager said.

"It's about 66 percent complete," Lynne Hyke, the manager, said Thursday afternoon. "We have 100 percent of the brick done, about 70 percent of the exterior rock and about 50 percent of the interior sheet rock. The duct work and sprinkler have also been installed."

Located between the former city jail and the Fayetteville Police Department, the new building will measure just less than 15,000 square feet and will increase district court space from about four offices with a common area to approximately 12 offices with a couple of common areas for clerks and the city prosecutor.

The building will also feature a clear story, which is a raised elevation with windows around the top. Hykesaid the sustainable design allows natural light into work areas to enhance indoor environmental qualities.

"Right now, we're installing a window frame and metal panels outside," he said. "We already have the frames and windows installed for the courtroom area, and now we're installing frames on the clear story."

The facility will become the first building constructed under the city's new Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-certification standards, which state thatall city buildings more than 5,000 square feet in area must qualify for LEED-silver certification. The LEED program encourages sustainable building and development practices.

In addition to being environmentally friendly, the new court building will free up space for the police department, adding an estimated 4,000 square feet to the 20,000-square-foot building.

Fayetteville Police Chief Greg Tabor said he hopes to expand the department's records division and provide more room for detectives. Tabor said he'd also like to move several off-site employees back to the police department, if space permits.

Several investigative offices are currently housed at the Washington County Courthouse. The Community-Oriented Policing Division is based out of the Northwest Arkansas Mall.

The new court building was designed by Wilson Estes Police Architects and is currently slated for completion by mid-October.

"Everything is currently on schedule and under budget," Hyke said. "We did do one addition, which was Perlite insulation between the exterior bricks and interior sheeting. That increased out value by about $4,500. It was definitely the best bang for our buck."

News, Pages 1, 5 on 07/27/2009

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