January 10, 2006
The Baltimore courthouses are a disaster waiting to happen. Forget the usual complaints: leaky roofs, broken-down elevators (often several at a time), overheated jury rooms, moldy carpets, drafty courtrooms, poor air quality, rats, an outdated fire escape system. A small fire outside the Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. Courthouse last week illustrates the real cause for alarm.
The fire among leaves and debris in an outside window well sent a haze of smoke through the historic building's ventilation system, forcing an evacuation. It wasn't much of a blaze - firefighters cleared the scene in 32 minutes. But the antiquated ventilation system, anchored at ground level, makes it vulnerable to contaminants. Don't think car emissions or soot. Think a toxic substance. Worried yet?
An overhaul of Baltimore's two courthouses on Calvert Street is irresponsibly overdue. It's like a can that's been kicked down a long winding road. The city's refusal to champion a costly but needed redevelopment has consigned the matter to the dead-letter heap. The city's yearly maintenance of the courts can't keep pace with persistent problems and deterioration.
A 2002 proposal to build a new main courthouse, restore the Mitchell building and redevelop Courthouse East has languished because of its estimated $293 million cost and the question of who should pay for it. Although court construction has traditionally been a local matter, City Hall has pushed for the past decade to have the state assume responsibility for the two court buildings. It succeeded in getting the state to take over the old City Jail, but resolving this matter doesn't have to be an either/or situation.
A city-state partnership, with help from the legal community, would revitalize this worthy project and get it on track. In this year of budget surpluses:
The city should provide about $650,000 for a room-by-room study of a new courthouse that would put the project in consideration for state capital financing.
State budget officials should commit to help finance the project and pledge to relocate some state agencies into an office building that would replace Courthouse East.
The Maryland bar should draft a prominent Baltimore lawyer to champion a courthouse overhaul and raise money for restoration of the historic Mitchell building.
Baltimore's courthouses are the busiest in Maryland. Their state of decline casts a pall on the business conducted there and contributes to a general lack of respect for the judicial system.
