Old courthouse has about served its term

Remaining judges and courts to move May 15

Time is running out for the moldplagued building that served as Broward County’s main courthouse for the past 55 years.

The former main entrance to the county’s judicial complex closed at the beginning of May. The remaining judges and courts still holding session in the 10-story structure will relocate to the new courthouse building at Southeast Sixth Street and First Avenue on May 15.

“At this point, the transition is just about complete,” Court Administrator Kathleen Pugh said.

The last to leave are the first appearance, domestic violence, county criminal and dependency courts, which had their move delayed while changes were completed and security concerns addressed in their new courthouse space.

“It’s a ghost town over there,” Chief Assistant Public Defender Gordon Weekes said of the former main courthouse.

The 1962 building itself will be demolished and replaced by a public plaza and a 500-space secure parking garage, some of the last projects in the county’s $345.6 million judicial complex overhaul. The construction was prompted in part by employee lawsuits that said they were being sickened by exposure to asbestos and toxic mold in the main courthouse building.

Demolition isn’t expected to be completed until 2018 and no start date for the task has been set, Assistant County Administrator Alphonso Jefferson said. The county first will salvage furniture or property from the building. It will then undergo asbestos removal before demolition, Jefferson said.

The changes have left two ways for visitors to get into the courthouse com-

MIKE STOCKER/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER The old main entrance of the Broward County Courthouse has officially closed, but there’s still some activity going on inside the building.