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Reading Advocate - March 26, 2008
New
court offers central location
The Reading
Advocate
More than 150 guests converged on the new Middlesex County Superior Court Thursday to celebrate the grand opening of the seven-story, 15-courtroom building just off Route 128 in Woburn.
The structure accommodates about 180 court employees who relocated last week from the Edward J. Sullivan Courthouse in Cambridge, which is in need of major repair.
The new 140,000-square-foot building also has 15 jury deliberation rooms, 22 holding cells with separate areas for men and women and record storage space. The Middlesex Law Library will also relocate to the courthouse by this spring. The trial court has leased the property for five years.
Dennis Clarke, president and CEO of the courthouse developer, Cummings Properties, said the building’s location should make it easier for the majority of courthouse patrons to visit. “Woburn is about as centrally located in Middlesex County as any community,” he added.
Local roads leading to TradeCenter 128, where the courthouse is located, have been enhanced and the availability of ample free parking is “another significant difference” from the Cambridge site, Clarke said. A three-story parking garage is adjacent to the facility.
Clarke was one of several dignitaries who spoke at the celebration, which was held in the third-floor jury pool room.
Chief Justice for Administration and Management (DCAM) Robert A. Mulligan welcomed attendees and thanked the many organizations and individuals who supported the planning and construction for the new building, which opened on March 17. He also thanked employees for their support throughout the process and introduced the guest speakers.
The program included remarks by Supreme Judicial Court Justice Robert J. Cordy, who represented Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall, and Superior Court Chief Justice Barbara J. Rouse who presented a bouquet of appreciation to Regional Administrative Judges Diane M. Kottmyer and Thomas P. Billings.
Speakers also included DCAM Deputy Commissioner Michael L. McKimmey, District Attorney Gerard T. Leone, Jr., Clerk of Courts Michael A. Sullivan, and Sheriff James V. DiPaola.
The building, which has blue-tinted windows that reflect clouds and the sky, also includes office space for staff of the Middlesex District Attorney’s office and the Committee for Public Counsel Services, as well as space designated for victims/witnesses and bar advocates.
Clarke said the courthouse has several “specialty components” such as millwork in the courtrooms, state-of-the-art talking elevators and extensive cabling for telecommunications and security systems.
Nevertheless, he said, the structure was built in just 12 months.
“Those of us from Cummings Properties in attendance are here on behalf of our more than 300 regular,full-time colleagues,” he said. “It was their dedication and hard work that enabled our firm to construct Middlesex County Superior Court’s fine new building, and much of the adjacent building, in just one year.”
The MBTA has added a stop to Bus Route 134 on Sylvan Road at the front building of the three-building TradeCenter complex.
The new address for the court is 200 TradeCenter, Woburn, MA 01801.
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