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Mostly Cloudy Courthouse under construction
Renovations to begin soon at Rockaway Avenue building
Within the next few weeks, Valley Stream officials expect construction to be in full swing at 195 Rockaway Ave., the downtown building being converted into the village’s courthouse.
Once the new heating and air conditioning system is installed, village crews will begin renovating the first floor, with the hopes of opening up the courtroom in the middle of 2014. There is a lot to do, including the installation of new windows, repairing the walls, ceiling and floor, a new electrical system, constructing two bathrooms and installing a handicapped entrance.
Tom McAleer, the village’s superintendent of buildings, shared the design of the building with Herald. It will include wooden benches to seat 156 people. Although it falls short of the capacity of the current courtroom at Village Hall by about 20 people, the plan would be to hold court more regularly — once a week on Wednesday nights instead of twice a month.
McAleer said getting the heat system installed, expected to cost about $70,000, is the first order of business so crews have a comfortable environment to work in. With the exception of a few major projects, most of the construction will be done by village workers. “I have full confidence in the village staff,” McAleer said, adding that Valley Stream employs skilled carpenters, plumbers and electricians. “They are second to none.”
The judge’s bench will be installed near the back of the building. Behind that, two small conference rooms will be constructed for lawyers and defendants to meet. Upstairs on the mezzanine level will be the judge’s office and a larger conference room that overlooks the courtroom.
The village has received $20,000 from the New York State Office of Court Administration for furniture, and it is applying for another grant for the judge’s bench and security cameras.
A few weeks ago, Village Justice Robert Bogle toured four major courthouses in New York City to get ideas. Valley Stream’s facility will be modeled after courthouses from the 1920s and ’30s, consistent with the era of the building’s construction. 195 Rockaway Ave. was built in 1926, and served as Village Hall until the current building opened on South Central Avenue.
For many years, the building housed a bank and village officials are still trying to determine what to do with the safe, which would be costly to remove because of its size and weight.
Bogle said that with the judiciary being a separate branch of government, it will be good for the court to have its own space. “It’s extremely rare and on Long Island it’s unprecedented to have your own separate courtroom,” he said. “The facility should work extremely well.”
His staff will have office space on the top floor. The upper floor needed few renovations, as it had been used as an attorney’s office before the village took over the building. The Public Safety and Auxiliary Police departments have already moved in. The parking division of Code Enforcement will soon call the building home, and the Valley Stream Civilian Patrol will also get an office there.
Mayor Ed Fare said that having some departments at 195 Rockaway Ave. has freed up space in other facilities. For example, he said, the Recreation Department now has the Firemen’s Field clubhouse to itself with Public Safety moving out. Auxiliary Police leaving Village Hall has provided space for the information technology department.
When the court moves over, the existing courtroom at Village Hall will still be used for village board meetings, but will also be renovated to double as a theater. The court offices there will house human resources, and will also be used as a backstage area for theatrical productions.
The basement at 195 Rockaway Ave. will be used for storage for the Recreation Department. Fare said that two windows have been covered over to combat flooding problems that had plagued the building’s lower level.
The paint has been pressure-washed off the back of the building, exposing the brick work, and the roof has been patched. Fare said the building will likely need a new roof in a few years.
The work is being funded through the village’s capital budget, in which it borrows each year for various large projects. John Mastromarino, the village’s budget consultant, has estimated the total cost of purchasing and renovating the building at about $1.1 million.
“I’m very excited about seeing it completed,” Bogle said. “This will be a place in New York history for all of us.”
