JACKSONVILLE, Fla.-- Five months after the opening of the new courthouse, Action News has learned the new $350 million courthouse still major problems.
Action News uncovered the temporary certificate of occupancy that was issued in June was extended in August. The construction company, Turner Construction, still has not finished getting everything up to code. The temporary certificate was extended until January.
Action News called more than a half-dozen city council members Tuesday. They had no idea, but said it's not a surprise. We got a copy of that extension. It doesn't give many details, but we've learned Turner Construction still has work to do on the building.
The new courthouse is a busy place. Judges and attorneys had a lot of catching up to do after the opening was delayed. In May, the new courthouse couldn't pass a fire inspection. When it finally did, only a temporary certificate of occupancy was issued.
Now Action News has learned that temporary certificate was extended. Almost 5 months after the opening of what many call a money pit, Turner Construction has still not fixed the problems.
Action News has learned the problems have to do with not being compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Action News talked about the issue with City Council President Bill Bishop back in August. "We're talking about issues here where there are levels that are inaccessible for people in wheelchairs."
That interview was one day after the certificate was extended and more money had to be spent fixing the courthouse. Months later, more than a half-dozen city council members we called didn't know about this extension and said it wasn't a surprise.
Now they want to know what's going on and why the certificate was even issued in the first place. These are questions Action News started asking back in August. "I would like to know why that happened. If this building has that many deficiencies how was a certificate of occupancy issued," said Bishop in August.
The extension on the certificate of occupancy goes through January 7th. The city has also hired a law firm to look into whether they will sue Turner Construction since there were so many problems and the building was not done on time. City leaders will not comment on any potential litigation.
We contacted Turner Construction but have not heard back from them yet.
