County gets nod for new Justice Center
Land development approved for $500 million county project
NORRISTOWN After getting caught up to speed on the Montgomery County Justice Center project’s progress, members of the Norristown Municipal Council gave their blessing by approving a resolution for land development, Thursday.
Representatives from Montgomery County and Skidmore Owings & Merrill were present during Tuesday night’s council meeting where they gave a presentation and entertained questions and comments from elected officials.
“The design that you see before you … has been three years in the making and certainly across the board Norristown is an involved and committed stakeholder, and has been that way from the beginning and we’re certainly proud to partner with you and them as we move forward,” said Thomas Bonner, director of Montgomery County’s Assets and Infrastructure Department.
The procedural matter had been an item on the agenda for the Aug. 18 work session. While Municipal Administrator Crandall Jones stressed borough staff had been advocating for local interests, Norristown leaders needed a more comprehensive update before giving the all clear to
project organizers.
“This is a half a billion dollar project, and for transparency reasons, if they wanted to give a presentation tonight, then it should have been on the agenda so that our community could have tuned in for the presentation as well to weigh in to us,” said Councilman Thomas Lepera during the Aug. 18 work session.
On Tuesday, Bonner estimated that the Montgomery County Justice Center project would cost roughly $415 million, which is “inclusive … over six years.”
Montgomery County officials first sought approval from the Norristown Municipal Council regarding an initial plan for the project last year, in which the preliminary land development was approved during a Jan. 21 meeting.
The document encompassed several proposals including demolishing existing parking garages, the Wells Fargo Bank and the 1967 addition of the Montgomery County Courthouse, according to an Aug. 18 work session description.
County officials wanted to then build a 288,365-gross-square-foot justice center, an underground parking garage complete with 75 spaces “with ingress/egress along Main Street” as well as constructing landscaping areas, retaining walls, memorial areas, and lighting, according to the Aug. 18 work session agenda packet. Renovations were also proposed for the current courthouse and annex and Hancock Square.
Earlier that year, the county’s Planning Commission submitted a review letter on Dec. 9, 2019, and the municipality’s Design Review Board endorsed “the proposed design elements” during a Historical Architectural Review Board and Design Review Board meeting.
County officials then sent in an application for the final land development on Jan. 24, and Pennoni, an engineering and consulting firm, “issued a review letter” on Feb. 28, according to the work session agenda packet.
A few months later, county representatives were given approval “for outstanding zoning items” on June 23, according to the agenda packet. While county officials attended a July 11 Norristown Planning Commission meeting, “there was no quorum.”
Along with Bonner, David Hahn, Montgomery County’s capital projects and programs director , as well as Peter Glasson, Skidmore Owings & Merrill’s lead designer for the justice center project walked Norristown Municipal Council members through a comprehensive presentation showcasing plans for the space.
Glasson emphasized the importance of paying tribute to the circa 1850s “historic courthouse,” while modernizing its chambers and courtrooms.
“We’re honoring it, we’re updating all the facilities existing here, bringing them up to courthouse and judicial standards that they could be used for full accessibility and just so that the building continues to be honored and kind of live into the future and expand its life,” Glasson said. “So that’s an important part of this for us to all understand.”
When it comes to bringing the county’s justice center to the 21st century’s second decade, he underscored the need to incorporate openness and functionality to the project’s mindset.
“We’re proud to have been working with you all, ... to hear your feedback and to create a place that is really about reinforcing and embracing the civic identify, but also balancing that with a very community oriented space, and together we think this is gonna be a great addition to the fabric of Norristown and Montgomery County,” Glasson said.
While the development remains in the development phase, council members queried project members on construction personnel and hiring practices with respect to diversity.
Hahn clarified that no bids have been made at this time.
“We’re still working through some of those logistics of minority participation, local participation,” he said. “...We will continue to practice local hiring local contractors to the extent possible.”
Bonner added t hat county representatives would like to pass along information and “this body would be one of the primary outreach methods.”
Additionally, information for prospective contractors would be posted on the county website.
Norristow n resident Netta Johnson asked if community members could participate in a “diversity and inclusion” committee. Bonner replied that he’s “interested in engaging [the] local population.”
Bonner stressed that Norristown’s feedback is being heard and considered.
“We are happy to have met with and reacted to comments from members of this council in our design … but it’s no small piece to say that Norristown government has been central to refining and changing the design as it evolved over the last three years,” Bonner said. “We directly reacted to comments around the streetscape on Main Street as you’ll see in the presentation.”
The land development approval also had waivers earmarked, according to Municipal Engineer Theodore Dymtryk for several items including sheet sizes, landscaping and piping. The preliminary/final land development was unanimously approved, along with the aforementioned waivers.
“We’re proud to have been working with you all ... to hear your feedback and to create a place that is really about reinforcing and embracing the civic identify, but also balancing that with a very community oriented space, and together we think this is gonna be a great addition to the fabric of Norristown and Montgomery County.”
— Peter Glasson, Skidmore Owings & Merrill’s lead designer for the Montgomery County Justice Center project