The Livingston County Law and Justice Center in Pontiac, Illinois, has been recognized with Engineering News-Record (ENR) magazine's Midwest Award of Merit for 2012 in the government/public building category. The new building provides courtroom and administrative space for the community, augmenting the use of a circa-1875 courthouse located next door. Designed by Dewberry, the center has also recently been awarded a LEED Silver® rating for sustainability by the U.S. Green Building Council.
The $16-million, 63,000-square-foot, three-story structure includes courtrooms and related support spaces, offices, meeting spaces, storage, a sally port, and detention areas. The building is set on a former brownfield site in downtown Pontiac and was designed to complement the neighboring historic courthouse, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
"This law and justice center, like the historic old courthouse, should stand for well over a century, serving the needs of our children, grandchildren, and more generations to come," noted Bill Flott at the dedication. Flott chaired the county board's Law and Justice Center committee.
Dewberry also designed the recently completed $6.5-million renovation and restoration of the older courthouse. The building now houses non-court-related county offices, including the county board room. State-of-the-art laser scanning technology aided the creation of as-built drawings for the historic structure.
"Dewberry researched through records and pictures of the original construction, and dug through records at the Pontiac Public Library," says William Fairfield, former chairman of the county board. "They developed a plan and followed it. The end result was as near to original as possible. We have heard nothing but positive remarks; the people of Livingston are proud of our restored courthouse."