Originally scheduled to open this fall, the city’s new consolidated courthouse is on pace to open early next year.
Hafeez Habib, vice-president of the Plenary Group, which is part of the consortium contracted to design, build and manage the facility, said the expectation is for construction work to be wrapped up by the end of next month.
“We’re on target to finish construction activities by the end of this year,” Habib said Tuesday during a media tour of the nearly $250 million site.
“The Ministry of the Attorney General is targeting their move for early 2014. The specific dates for that move are yet to be determined, but it will be a phased in move over several dates.”
Local law association president Chris Hacio said the latest update he has been provided with has the courthouse being operational for March or April.
He said his members are anxious to get to work inside the new 15-courtroom building, which will replace the Ontario Court of Justice on Arthur Street and the Superior Court of Justice on Camelot Street.
Hacio explained the new building provides much better convenience for lawyers practicing at both levels of court.
Furthermore, he said the new building allows for the use of technology for various proceedings and the presentation of evidence much better than the city’s existing justice buildings.
Initial timelines had the six-storey building, which began construction in 2011, scheduled to open in the fall of this year.
However, project developers ran into some delays that have pushed the deadlines back.
There were three different strikes over the course of the past year from different labour groups that Habib acknowledged provided complications.
Once opened, the building will have amenities not present in the current facilities.
One design feature of the courthouse is that members of the judiciary have separate corridors throughout the building than the general public.
Also, the first floor contains an Aboriginal Conference Settlement Suite that is unique to the building and contains a spiritual room to go along with conference rooms and offices.
Much of the hard work involved with the project has already been completed, and crews are wrapping up the remainder of the work.
“We’re in the finishing stages,” Habib said of the state of the project.
“There are 225 to 235 workers on site on any given day, and they’re most from the finishing trades. We have a lot of carpenters, flooring, millwork, cleaners and peoples doing various tests and inspections.”
