County Set To Begin Work On Replacing Courthouse, Safety Building

Milwaukee County Safety Building. Photo by Graham Kilmer.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley will soon be sent a recommendation that the county include at least $3.8 million in its 2024 budget to begin chipping away at the work needed to demolish the dilapidated Safety Building, 821 W. State St., and construct a new Criminal Courthouse.

The $3.8 million is just enough to cover the first phase of a multi-phased planning process. The entire process is estimated to cost more than $30 million.

Stuart Carron, director of facilities management, has recommended to the county’s Capital Improvements Committee (CIC) that the county budget for approximately $9.6 million in design work. This would cover the first two phases of design, both of which are scheduled to begin in the same year.

In 2018, the cost for the project was estimated at approximately $360 million. Five years later, that cost is now estimated between $480 million and $500 million.  The construction itself is expected to cost approximately $458 million.

The Safety Building was originally built as a jail and the county has determined that it is not suited for redevelopment. It is part of the larger courthouse complex, which includes the Milwaukee County Courthouse and the county jail. Criminal courtrooms are split between the Safety Building and the courthouse, which would remain after the development of the new facility. The plan calls for a new 10-story criminal courthouse which will contain all the county’s criminal courts.

The current facilities at the Safety Building do not meet standards for criminal court operations set by the Supreme Court, Chief Judge Carl Ashley told the CIC. One reason is that criminal defendants in custody are brought to the courtroom through public hallways.

The CIC met Thursday to finalize a list of recommended budget items, including major infrastructure projects and maintenance. It ended up including $3.8 million to begin work on a new criminal courthouse.

The county has been limited by its two decades of cash flow trouble and now has a backlog of maintenance projects estimated at approximately $1 billion. But this number doesn’t include the cost of the criminal courthouse.

The county is expected to enter 2024 with its first budget surplus in decades, thanks to the implementation of a new 0.4% sales tax. But the estimated $31.6 million surplus, however historic, will only put a dent in the county’s backlog, assuming that’s where the money is allocated.

As always, every project is in competition with a list of projects from around the county. That was no different this year, as the committee tinkered with capital budgets, moving projects in and out of its recommended list.

Wauwatosa Mayor Dennis McBride sits on the ad-hoc committee, which is composed of the mayor, his Oak Creek counterpart and county officials. He noted that the Safety Building, which the new Criminal Courthouse would replace, has been slated for demolition for years. “We need to start setting aside money for the Safety Building,” he said. 

Sup. Steve Taylor said he was against beginning to set aside county funding for a criminal courthouse at the same time that state legislators in Madison are considering a funding deal for the Milwaukee Brewers‘ stadium that would include contributions from local government.

McBride didn’t agree with holding up budgeting for the project, but agreed with Taylor that the state does not regularly align itself with Milwaukee’s interests. “The State is a lousy partner with Milwaukee County and should be providing more money for the biggest and most important county in the state,” he said.

Joe Lamers, director of the county’s Office of Strategy, Budget and Performance, pushed for including at least $3.8 million to begin planning for the new courthouse. He and McBride both noted the courthouse projects throughout the state require a local funding contribution. With this project likely to take five to seven years, Lamers said, the county needs to “continue showing momentum on this project.