Water is shown spilling out of the upper floors of the John Marshall Courts Building and onto the courthouse steps below.
Arguments for repairing or replacing Richmond’s John Marshall Courts Building spilled out into full view Monday – not within the judges’ chambers, but with a cascade of water both inside and outside the building, the result of a water line break that closed the courthouse for the day.
Photos and videos provided to Richmond BizSense showed what appeared to be streams of water falling from the ceilings of several office areas in the building’s upper floors and spilling outside onto the courthouse steps below.
A source connected to the courthouse provided the visuals, which were said to have been taken by court personnel, some of whom are shown in the videos ducking under the water, just as a piece of ceiling falls to the floor nearby.
According to the source, who asked not to be named, Richmond Circuit Chief Judge Richard Campbell closed the courthouse Monday morning due to “a massive water line break” inside the building. The video clips were said to show significant damage to the office of General District Court Clerk Cecilia Garner, as well as to court files and other documents in the building.
Around 11:30 a.m., the city issued a notice that the courthouse would be closed the rest of the day for emergency work to repair the water leak. It said all hearings and trials that were to be held Monday would be rescheduled, and that land recordings and e-recordings would not be accepted until it reopened Tuesday (today).
A similar notice was posted on the city’s webpage for circuit court announcements, calling the situation a “building emergency.” A city spokesperson later said the cause of the leak was a broken hot water valve that feeds the baseboard heating, which had been turned on due to the recent lower temperatures.
Photos showed standing water in what appears to be a document storage area.
The incident served to highlight the judges’ concerns of deferred maintenance and security issues at the 1970s-era, city-owned building at 400 N. Ninth St., and requests for a replacement courthouse, which could cost the city upwards of $300 million.
A court order from the judges was served on Richmond City Council in May, listing the Commonwealth of Virginia as the plaintiff and all nine councilmembers as defendants. The following month, council passed a resolution that started the process of establishing a panel to assess the current building’s condition and recommend repairs deemed to be needed.
That assessment is apparently underway, as during a legislative summit Monday afternoon between council and members of Richmond’s state delegation, council vice president Katherine Jordan and Chief Administrative Officer Odie Donald acknowledged work that’s aimed to be completed by mid-November, when Donald said the assessment would be delivered to the court.
Jordan said they’d hoped to have Circuit Court Clerk Edward Jewett at the summit but noted the emergency closure that occurred that morning. Donald said the most economical option for the city to address the situation is to repair and maintain the current building, adding that a replacement would require substantial funding assistance from the state.
Council’s adopted budget for this fiscal year includes $14.6 million for the courthouse project. City officials have acknowledged the needs for the courthouse, which Mayor Danny Avula has said has been identified since the 1990s as needing investment or replacement.
The John Marshall Courts Building at 400 N. Ninth St. (City documents)
In July, the judge in the case – Judge Ray Lupold III, whose district does not include Richmond – allowed a partial stay requiring that the parties meet monthly to discuss and share information related to planning and a timeline for a new courthouse and maintenance issues related to the existing building.
Those meetings were to involve at least one councilmember, Donald or a deputy CAO, and one circuit court judge. Jordan said during Monday’s legislative summit that the parties are working “very diligently” with Donald and the city attorney’s office to assess the building.
While that assessment continues, the parties have engaged architecture firm Baskervill to prepare plans and a design for a new courthouse. Those plans are to be completed and provided to the state no later than Nov. 20.
Should Baskervill determine a new courthouse is unfeasible at the current site, the city would appoint a five-member panel to further assess the existing building and recommend repairs.
Late Monday afternoon, city spokesman Michael Hinkle said the city’s facilities team had been onsite coordinating cleanup, which involved vacuums, dehumidifiers and fans to collect the water and dry out affected areas. He said water damage was isolated to the second and third floors and that a fuller damage assessment would be known by the end of this week.
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