Courthouse groundbreaking is Thursday

The new South County Justice Center will officially break ground Thursday, nearly a decade after the project was first conceived.

The groundbreaking ceremony will take place from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the National Guard Armory, 29 N. Plano St.

The project dates back as early as 2003, when court officials began looking into proposed steps to reconfigure Tulare County courts to handle expected population growth within 20 years.

Thursday’s event will celebrate the culmination of more than five years of planning and design for the new nine-courtroom, 96,000-square-foot courthouse to replace the current Porterville Courthouse on Morton Avenue and Third Street.

The $93 million courthouse, scheduled for completion in fall of 2013, will provide space for expansion and enhanced security, improving access and service, according to the California Administrative Office of the Courts.  

The ceremony will include remarks by presiding Judge Melinda Reed, Judge Glade Roper, and Court Executive Officer LaRayne Cleek of the Superior Court of Tulare County. Also speaking will be Porterville Mayor Ron Irish, and Tulare County Fifth District Supervisor Mike Ennis.

Public parking will be available adjacent to the Armory, with additional parking available off Plano Street, north of the Armory.

The ceremony will begin at the Armory, and will precede the groundbreaking at the new courthouse site, adjacent to the Armory at the old Porterville Fairgrounds.