Contra Costa Lawyer - Contra Costa County Bar Association

Richard E. Arnason
Justice Center
Lucy Fogarty, Deputy Executive Officer
The Richard E. Arnason Justice
Center, a new, state-of-the-art
courthouse will be opening at
the beginning of November.
It will be located at 1000 Center Drive
in Pittsburg, adjacent to the present
courthouse at 45 Civic Avenue, which was
built in 1957. Once the new courthouse
is open, the present building will be
demolished and additional parking provided
in its place.
The facility is named in honor of Judge
Richard E. Arnason. Judge Arnason, now
88, retired as a judge in Contra Costa
County in 1995 after 31 years. He later
joined the State's Assigned Judges Program,
and now presides over Department
28 in Martinez. Judge Arnason’s distinguished
career has spanned more than
sixty years in Contra Costa County where
he has served as a leader over the Bar and
Bench. It is the Court’s privilege to bestow
this honor on a living judge who has
dedicated his life and devoted a
career to justice in serving this
community – he truly is an
American icon.
This courthouse is the first
trial court project in California
funded entirely by State Trial
Court Construction Funds, a
significant change from previous
county-funded courthouse projects.
It is the first project planned,
designed and built through a
partnership between the trial
court and the Administrative
Office of the Courts. The State’s
Judicial Council, the policymaking
body of the Courts, in a
cooperative effort with the City
of Pittsburg entered into a land
exchange agreement for the
construction site of the new courthouse.
Construction began April 2009, and has
a scheduled occupancy target date of early
November 2010.
The Arnason Justice Center
will be two stories plus a lower
level that will house an arraignment
courtroom and hold incustody
defendants awaiting
courtroom appearances.There
will be seven courtrooms for
Traffic, Criminal, Family Law and
Juvenile matters. At 75,000
square feet, the building is 3
times larger than the existing
courthouse.
To better serve the community,
there will be 15 customer service
windows, a self-help/ library
center with a children’s waiting
area, a jury assembly room,
attorney-client meeting rooms,
and 280 parking spaces when the last
phase of construction completes. The
building is being built “Green” with current
construction waste diverted from
landfills at a current rate of 80 – 83%.
The project managers are aiming for a
Silver LEED certification form the USGBC
- U.S. Green Building Council. Building
materials throughout were selected for
high-recycled content, renewable content,
and durability. The project includes many
other energy efficient and low environmental
impact design and construction
methods and materials.
This project has been a true collaboration
between the Administrative Office
of the Courts and the Superior Court of
Contra Costa County. u
TOP LEFT: Architectual Rendering by HOK
Architects;
BELOW: Photo of Richard E. Arnason Justice
Center, September 2010.
22 September 2010