Nevada City will have to work to keep courthouse downtown, committee member says

Gary Tintle

Gary Tintle said the committee was informed that state officials had not even analyzed whether it was worth remodeling or renovating the courthouse and that they were opposed to the idea of moving workers during construction.

Nevada City will need to make a strong case to keep the Nevada County courthouse near the downtown, according to a member of a committee that has been briefed on the project.

“The Nevada City option is open although it looks like the state doesn’t think so,” said Gary Tintle, who is representing the chamber of commerce on the committee of local officials.

The state’s Judicial Council has announced plans to replace the current courthouse in Nevada City, which is located at 201 Church Street, with an 83,000-square-foot building at a cost of $108 million.

The state’s plan has led to concerns that the new courthouse might not be built near the downtown, which would hurt merchants who benefit from the courthouse’s estimated 800 visitors a day.

“It will have an affect on business,” Tintle said.

Tintle said the committee was informed that state officials had not even analyzed whether it was worth remodeling or renovating the courthouse and that they were opposed to the idea of moving workers during construction.

“They are not open to an interim site,” he said.

The Judicial Council has looked at other sites in Nevada City, Tintle added.

Tintle, a local contractor and commercial property owner, said he will do his best to push the current courthouse site as the best place for the new one. The site-selection committee, for example, can now consider whether the soon-to-be vacant Nevada City Elementary school building could serve as part of a new courthouse campus.

City Manager Gene Albaugh, City Engineer Bill Falconi, City Finance Manager Catrina Andes, City Councilor Robert Bergman, Paul Matson and Conley Weaver also attended the meeting with court officials, Tintle said.