Cuyahoga County Council approved $200 million for upgrades at the court tower building in Downtown Cleveland during a special meeting Monday.
The county will use a mix of borrowing and money from its general fund beginning this year to make repairs and upgrades through 2036.
Councilmember Martin Sweeney said during the Monday meeting that repairs at the courthouse are long overdue.
鈥淎nd I鈥檓 applauding this council for dealing directly with it and beginning to renovate something that should have been dealt with a long time ago,鈥� said Sweeney.
Earlier this year, Common Pleas Court judges threatened to sue the county over repairs at the courthouse. The two sides went into mediation and came to a tentative agreement for $150 million in repairs over six years.
That agreement was scrapped amid concerns that it was intended to guarantee a representative from the courts approved plans for the county鈥檚 new jail in Garfield Heights.
The new funding agreement, which was partially posted on council鈥檚 website prior to Monday鈥檚 special meeting, would end earlier than 2036 if the courthouse is either fully refurbished or the courts are moved to a different building.
It includes $16 million already budgeted for this year, plus an agreement to borrow $66 million 鈥渋mminently.鈥� In 2028, $20 million would come from the general fund and, in 2029, $34 million would be transferred into the new account, titled the 鈥淐ommon Pleas Court General Division Capital Improvement Account.鈥�
Money would also be transferred directly into the capital improvement account from the quarter-percent sales tax that was extended 40 years to pay for construction of a new jail.
The county is preparing to take on close to $1 billion of debt to build a new county jail and is already projecting a $19 million deficit in health and human services funding.
The portions of the agreement posted to council鈥檚 website did not go into detail on all of the repairs planned for the courthouse, but some specific improvements include:
- Upgrades to Justice Center parking facilities
- Renovations to the part of the Justice Center currently used by Cleveland Police for their headquarters (Cleveland is in the process of moving its headquarters.)
- Upgrades to 34 court attorney conference rooms to improve communications with detainees
