Selected courthouse site isn’t right for city | Letters to The Republican
The state conditionally approved the Liberty Junction proposal for the new Regional Justice Center to replace the Roderick L. Ireland Courthouse – a location not in the central business/residential center, but the far side of the railroad tracks – requesting a re-design of the building to only 220,00 square feet – to reduce the cost.
However, the Worcester courthouse, built in 2007, measures 427,000 square feet and the Lowell Courthouse (LEED Platinum), built in 2020, is 265,000 square feet. Both are located in prominent downtown locations.
Springfield’s courthouse’s daily traffic is higher than Lowell’s, and similar to Worcester’s. Springfield is Massachusetts’ third largest city and deserves a courthouse worthy of its needs.
The many studies done for the city, including the Court Square Urban Redevelopment Plan Amendment #12, all support keeping the courthouse in the central business district – which is not the far side of the railroad tracks.