SPARTANBURG — Construction on the new Spartanburg County Courthouse downtown is projected to be completed in late 2023, part of a larger vision to update city and county facilities.
"Today, we consider this day the official groundbreaking of the courthouse," Spartanburg County Council Chairman Manning Lynch said during a ceremony July 13. "This is one of our community's largest projects ever."
The $110 million courthouse, located near the intersection of West St. John Street and Magnolia Street, is part of an effort to replace aging facilities through public funding approved by voters in 2017 when they passed a 1-cent sales tax hike.
Judicial Planning Associates reported in May 2017 the Spartanburg Judicial Center needed to be replaced because it no longer met the required standards for technology or security required for courts.
The 340,000-square-foot facility will provide the county with more than three times the space it has at the existing courthouse located near the construction site. It will be the seventh courthouse in the county's history.
When finished, the six-story courthouse will have 16 court rooms with the building's highest point reaching 124 feet.
The old county courthouse will be demolished in 2024 and a plaza constructed for the new courthouse.
South Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Donald Beatty, who is from Spartanburg, had been notified repeatedly by the former clerk of court of the need to replace the courthouse.
"Leadership came together," Beatty said at the ceremony. "I appreciate Hope Blackley, former Clerk of Court, for bringing it to our attention repeatedly until something was done. A courthouse is the focal point of any community. When you look at it historically back you will see the most beautiful building in any community was a courthouse."
Beatty reminisced how he developed his interest in law while working as a young man at the existing courthouse built in 1958. He worked for his grandmother delivering laundry she cleaned for judges. He would often walk by the building with aspirations of becoming a lawyer.
"(A) courthouse is what keeps community together because it is the seat of law," he said.
The new design includes white precast exterior with classical architecture. It includes five public elevators, space for additional courtroom expansion, and integrated security corridors with holding cells and elevators for detainees.
Lane closures are anticipated to begin on North Daniel Morgan Avenue in September as construction progresses.
"We have designed what we think will be a lasting classical look," Lynch said. "A design that will stand the test of time. The courthouse will have a big impact on our community."
A parking deck garage with 700 spaces has already been completed at Library Street as part of the overall construction project.
The courthouse construction project is part of a larger $240 million project.
As part of the 2017 referendum to raise the sales tax by 1-cent, voters agreed to use the funds to build a new city/county municipal building replacing Spartanburg City Hall and the Spartanburg County administrative building after the courthouse is completed.
The cost to build a 180,000-square-foot joint municipal building would be about $66 million.
A site for the new municipal building has not yet been selected.
"The city of Spartanburg and Spartanburg County came together and decided to give the people a choice to fund generational, transformative projects through a short-term six-year 1 (cent) sales tax," OneSpartanburg CEO and President Allen Smith said. "So many people throughout our community came together to support the campaign."
