Stanislaus court launches first public survey seeking input on new Modesto courthouse

Stanislaus Superior Court officials have released the first in a series of online surveys seeking the public’s input on how to design the new $267 million courthouse in downtown Modesto.

The courthouse is planned for a city block bounded by H and G streets and Ninth and 10th streets. The state’s latest timeline calls for construction of the roughly 300,000-square-foot facility to start in June 2018 and end in May 2021.

Court officials anticipate posting a new online survey each month over the next five or six months, depending on the responsiveness from the public.

The information gathered from the public surveys will be given to the architect, who will incorporate the information into the design of the new building as much as possible. Court officials say they want to create a user-friendly building.

Online links to the surveys will be posted on the court’s website stanct.org, and the first survey is available now. The first survey includes questions about the importance of safety and accessibility, the look of the building’s interior and the design of the courthouse exterior.

Court officials promise the survey questions will become more specific as other surveys are posted online. Some of the upcoming surveys will be tailored to specific users of the court, such as attorneys or prospective jurors.

Executive Officer Rebecca Fleming has said the new courthouse will provide roughly twice as much space as the current downtown Modesto courthouse.

The new building will house all of the court’s operations, including civil court, which is currently housed in the nearby Merrill Lynch building, the traffic division on Floyd Avenue and the Turlock court that reopened last month and handles small claims and unlawful detainer cases.

Court officials also are considering ways to increase the public’s access by making more services available on its website as well as setting up kiosks throughout the county.

This story was originally published February 22, 2016 at 3:23 PM with the headline "Stanislaus court launches first public survey seeking input on new Modesto courthouse."