Design Team Selected For $500 Million Courthouse Complex

Milwaukee County Safety Building. Photo by Graham Kilmer.

Milwaukee County has selected two consultants to help it plan and design a new $500 million criminal courthouse.

AECOM, a national engineering firm, is providing architectural planning and design. The National Center for State Courts (NCSC), a Virginia-based consultancy, will collect the input used to shape the programming and services of the new facility.

The new criminal courthouse will provide a new space for the justice system functions currently taking place at the Safety Building, 821 W. State St.

The structure was built in 1929, and not as a courthouse. Today all the felony criminal court cases are held in the building, but its design is a safety concern for court officials as shackled defendants led by bailiffs, jurors, witnesses and families all using the same hallways to access a court room.

The actual structure is increasingly a problem, too. The facade is also crumbling and building systems are failing. Damp conditions and flooding have damaged criminal evidence stored by the Clerk of Circuit Courts. The county spends approximately $500,000 annually on maintenance.

“The Public Safety Building is intended to serve as the center for the entire public safety continuum in Milwaukee County, but it is crumbling, inefficient, and poses risks to community safety and justice,” County Executive David Crowley said in a statement Thursday. “It requires removal and replacement with a new building.”

With cost estimates reaching as high as $500 million, the new courthouse will be the most expensive public works project in the history of county government.

For AECOM’s role, the firm will oversee design of improvements to the buildings flow and footprint; developing plans for needed square footage and offices. The county awarded the firm the contract in part for its experience with other courthouse projects, including the Broward County Judicial Complex, according to the county.

“We share the team’s dedication and urgency to achieve the outcomes of this project because justice delayed is justice denied,” said Jeannette Peruchini, AECOM vice president.

The NCSC is a consultancy specifically focused on training on projects related to courts and the justice system. They have worked on courthouse and justice facility projects across the country. NCSC will collect feedback from courthouse stakeholders to identify the “services and structure” Milwaukee County needs to offer the community.

“There is so much potential in this project, and we look forward to marshaling stakeholder feedback and national best practices and research to support the entire project team,” said Zach Zarnow, Deputy Managing Director of NCSC’s Access to Justice team.

Under the current project timeline, the county will be engaged in planning until at least 2027, with construction beginning by 2028 or 2029. Construction is expected to last for approximately three years, with completion between 2031 and 2032.