A court-ordered expansion of Manchester Courthouse in South Richmond is under way.

The $23.3 million project will more than double the size of the historic courthouse at 10th and Hull streets and end a controversy over a new or renovated home for the criminal division of General District Court.

Standing beside a giant excavator at a groundbreaking ceremony yesterday, Mayor L. Douglas Wilder said the project highlights how business used to be done in Richmond.

"It marks the end of ignoring the problems [and] simply hoping they will go away," he said.

City judges filed a lawsuit in 2001 over the poor condition of two General District courtrooms in the basement of the Public Safety Building. A settlement in 2003 called for the city to fix the downtown building, but Wilder balked at the estimated $55 million cost.

The mayor, who took office in 2005, ultimately brokered a deal to expand Manchester Courthouse instead. That move will save taxpayers $49 million in capital and financing costs, according to the Wilder administration.

Wilder criticized the City Council for having neglected the Public Safety Building for so long and bristled at having been dragged into the matter by the city attorney and the council.

"I never had to be ordered to know what was right. I knew what was right," he said.

Wilder called the courthouse expansion "a victory for our employees, the neighborhood and the city."

The project is scheduled for completion by Jan. 5, 2010. It will increase the courthouse from 27,250 to 58,625 square feet and provide a third courtroom, 23 cells for prisoners and 163 off-site parking spaces.

Construction and site work started in May and forced the judges, clerk's office and other courthouse operations to move into a custom-designed complex of modular buildings on an adjoining block.

Officials predict the expansion will help revitalize the Hull Street corridor.

Judge Gregory L. Rupe recalled witnessing drug deals from his office window when he arrived at Manchester Courthouse almost 24 years ago.

"I'm not going to tell you this is going to be Palm Springs, but I actually do . . . think there might be a chance that this place is going to start coming back," he said.
Contact Will Jones at (804) 649-6911 or wjones@timesdispatch.com.