Concerns that Newport’s courthouses are too old and poorly designed for modern judicial work could be eased with state money.
Last month, Gov. Phil Scott proposed bookmarking $1.5 million in the state capital bill “to begin the process of helping revitalize” the city “after setbacks caused by the EB-5 fraud.”
That money, if approved by the Legislature, would go toward planning and buying property for a new state courthouse in Newport, according to Ted Brady, deputy secretary of the Agency of Commerce and Community Development.
“The hope is that this commitment to address a needed piece of state infrastructure could be used as the first money in to realizing redevelopment in downtown Newport,” Brady said. “That may mean looking at whether the courthouse could move to the ‘Mainstreet Redevelopment Site.’”
In other words, the building could fill the hole in Newport — the lot left vacant after state and federal authorities cracked down on EB-5–related development in April 2016.
One way the idea could unfold would be for the state to leasing part of the building from a developer as its anchor tenant, with the rest cordoned off for new businesses to move in, the deputy secretary said.
Those plans are premature, said Brady, who also spoke to the Caledonian Record and Barton Chronicle about the idea in late January. But what’s certain is that the proposed state funds would be welcomed by court officials.
“We’ve identified Orleans as one of our two primary concerns,” said Gregg Mousley, chief of finance and administration for the Vermont Judiciary.
Court services in the county are split between two adjacent buildings on Main Street in Newport, and a slew of problems have made it “really hard to operate a court,” Mousely said. “There’s a lot of jockeying around.”
Mousley said modern courthouses require three flows of traffic — one for the public, another for staff and a third for detainees and law-enforcement officers.
“What’s happening up there in Newport is, neither building has those different flows of traffic,” Mousley said. “They’re both older buildings.”
The holding cell for detainees is in a public area of the criminal courthouse. There are no separate bathrooms for the accused. Because there are no private spaces for clients to meet with attorneys, “they just find quiet corners of waiting rooms and hallways and stairways,” Mousley said.
And the Newport criminal court lacks a sally port — a secured, garage-like space that detainees are taken to and from by officers that’s standard in modern courthouses.
The criminal building’s lobby is also too cramped for proper security screening, Mousley said, and the Newport facilities have poor accessibility.
That court services are split between two buildings is a headache, too, with staff having to cart records back and forth.
“It wasn’t really designed the way modern courthouses are designed,” state Court Administrator Patricia Gabel said.
“What we would like to do is, not go through two buildings anymore,” Gabel added.
Other facility problems include uncovered entryway stairs that can be snowed over, heating boiler dysfunction, limited parking and an out-of-code elevator.
Gabel said court officials have been talking about the needs of the Orleans County facilities for years to legislators and the Department of Buildings and General Services, which maintains the properties. Judiciary officials have also been focusing on the courthouse in Barre, which faces some of the same challenges.
“We’re pleased that they were looking at these priorities that we have when the governor was trying to accomplish some other objectives,” Gabel said.
Newport Mayor Paul Monette was pleased, too.
“I certainly hope the Legislature keeps the funding and not allocate it for something else,” Monette said in an email.
The mayor emphasized that the potential Main Street site is privately owned — by a receiver put in place by federal authorities after the EB-5 scandal — and would need to be sold for any development to happen there.
But he highlighted the upside of the potential plan.
“We all know any developer will need an anchor tenant before they commit to building in our downtown since it costs the same to build in Newport as it does in Burlington,” Monette said. “However, the per-square rents are much less here in Newport. It is economics which comes into play, and people need to see [a return on investment].”
Brady, the Commerce and Community Development deputy secretary, said the money could be used to kickstart several different paths.
The state could rehabilitate the current courthouses. It could buy the vacant Main Street lot. It could partner with a private developer. Or it could do either with a different property in the city — or in Orleans County.
“It’s unclear exactly how this will unfold, but there needs to be money in the bank account so that people understand this isn’t two, five, 10 years out,” Brady said. “We want to do this now.”
