Courthouse

The Annapolis Historic District Commission expressed strong reservations yesterday about the size and scale of a proposed $43 million Circuit Courthouse near Annapolis' Church Circle.The commission approved the concept of building the courthouse at the Church Circle location, as well as the use of Annapolis brick and stone to construct the building. It also agreed that the county could build a courthouse of 250,000 square feet, along with a 30,000-square-foot underground garage.The commission approved the county's proposal to restore the historic 1824 courthouse fronting Church Circle, which would be used as an entrance to the new complex.

The Annapolis Historic District Commission is jeopardizing the future of downtown by making unrealistic demands about the design for the new county courthouse expansion.The courthouse must stay downtown. The center city business district, at least on weekdays year-round, depends on courthouse traffic. Without functioning municipal buildings, the historic district becomes little more than a museum. Yet at least one panel member said she is willing to see the courthouse move rather than have a structure large enough to serve the county's needs.

A 2-inch pipe in the Anne Arundel Circuit Courthouse in Annapolis burst in the bitter cold Sunday evening, flooding some offices and the street in front of the Church Circle building.Robert Wallace, court administrator, said the pipe, which is part of the second-floor sprinkler system, burst at 6:15 p.m.He said the break was probably caused by the low temperatures of the weekend.Water gushed through the court reporters' offices and down onto the first-floor offices of the county licensing division.

Two bomb threat calls prompted the evacuation of the Carroll County Courthouse buildings for more than two hours yesterday while bomb-sniffing dogs from three counties searched the facilities and found nothing.Deputy Sheriff Sgt. Richard Bader, chief of courthouse security, said about 200 employees, visitors and prisoners were evacuated after the calls were received at 1:15 p.m. and 1:23 p.m. by employees in the District Court clerk's office and the Circuit Court administrative office.Both buildings were reopened at 3:35 p.m., Sergeant Bader said.

A county advisory panel gave preliminary approval yesterday to $33.5 million worth of capital projects, including plans for a new county courthouse in Annapolis that would preserve the historic part of the existing building.The Planning Advisory Board, which makes budget recommendations to the county executive, also gave conditional approval for a new firehouse on General's Highway in Crownsville.Final votes on those and other projects from various county departments are expected March 4 before the board presents its interim report to Robert R. Neall, the executive.

An employee at one of Baltimore's downtown courthouses got a diagnosis of Legionnaires' disease yesterday, prompting concerns about workplace safety in the 100-year-old building. But preliminary tests conducted yesterday by city and state health officials at the Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. Courthouse showed that no one in the building was "at risk" for contracting the disease, said Administrative Judge Ellen M. Heller. "No evidence has been uncovered so far which would indicate that the employee in question was exposed to the bacteria causing the illness ... while at work," Heller said in a prepared statement.

The grand opening of the Anne Arundel County Court House, which has been open for two months, will be held at 4 p.m. Dec. 12, followed by a small reception and open house that will allow area court and elected officials to tour the Annapolis building.There will probably be other grand openings. An additional 110,000 square feet of space, mostly for administrative offices of the Circuit Court, is to be built.Also, the restoration of the tiny original 1824 courthouse to its 1890s appearance began recently.

There aren't a lot of original ideas on CBS this fall but at least the network is copying the right prototypes. "Central Park West" is from the "Melrose Park" mold; most of CBS' comedies are "Friends" knockoffs; and "Courthouse," the second drama premiering tonight at 10, attempts to bring the gritty "NYPD Blue" look and feel to legal drama."

Franklin D. Roosevelt D'Alesandro, a retired city courthouse clerk and member of the family that includes two former Baltimore mayors and U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, died of cancer yesterday at the Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care. The Hamilton resident was 73. Known as Roosie, he was born in Baltimore on March 7, 1933 - shortly after the first inauguration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, for whom he was named. He was the second son of Annunciata and Thomas D'Alesandro Jr., who was mayor of Baltimore from 1947 to 1959 and earlier served in the House of Representatives.

UPPER MARLBORO - Fire ravaged yesterday the majestic courthouse that has stood at the center of the Prince George's County seat since the 19th century and was the scene of several notable trials, including those of former Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace's would-be assassin and basketball star Len Bias's alleged drug dealer. Fire officials last night were unsure of the cause of the four-alarm blaze, which was first reported around 8:15 a.m. and drew 125 firefighters. They battled flames for 2 1/2 hours as a stunned crowd looked on. Two firefighters suffered minor injuries, and damage was estimated at about $40 million.