County leaders tour court construction site

GOSHEN — County officials saw a world of difference as they toured the new court construction site this week.

A group of Elkhart County board members and employees went inside the joint court facility on Tuesday to see how it’s progressing. The four-story complex at 1905 Reliance Road will house all of the courtrooms that are now split between two buildings in Elkhart and Goshen.

County Commissioner Suzie Weirick said they saw many features of the interior clearly outlined, including offices and courtrooms. She said the exterior is coming along, though a section was left open so a crane could lift larger items inside.

Massive HVAC units had been placed on the roof and the setting for the clock that will sit above the front entrance was in place, though installation of the clock face itself is still some time away.

“The construction is starting on the top-down now, so some of the space on the fourth floor was finished and even starting to get painted. It’s kind of fascinating how they do it all,” Weirick said. “The clock on the tower, that was something they were working on. It was just kind of cool to see the scale and see how high it is. The back is there.”

There’s still a long way to go before the judges can move into the building in January, but she said there was a dramatic difference from the last time she joined a large group tour of the building in fall.

“It’s huge. The last time we were there, we were hopping over exposed boards and different types of equipment sticking out and sticking up. And now all of the floors are in, the stairs were actually usable this time,” she said. “It was a huge difference, a huge difference.”