Court House re-opening delayed

A date has not been set for the re-opening of the City Court House on Queen Street, according to the Sault Ste. Marie Police Services Board.

A fire, which occurred in late August, was kept mainly to a confined area of a few offices in the basement of the building.

Other parts of the building did suffer smoke damage from the fire.

The cause of the fire, announced earlier this week by Sault Ste. Marie Fire Services, was “undetermined.”

Much of the current delay has been due to some renovations being done in the building.

Judge chambers as well as some offices are being moved around in the building, causing the delay.

The Board also discussed the possibility of implementing a security check for those entering the courthouse, which would lead to one point of entry to the building for everyone.

The checkpoint would be similar to boarding a plane, with similar security points in place.

The discussion was a very informal and preliminary one at best.

One of the major concerns with adding a security checkpoint as such to the building would be the time it would take for people to enter the building.

“On Mondays, for example, we have first appearance court where everybody that has been charged throughout the week have to attend,” Police Chief Bob Davies told the board. “Last Monday there was 140 people that had to attend. If we were to screen everyone individually like what is being proposed by other people, that’s over two hours to get people in. When you’re released from the police station to appear on Monday morning at nine o’clock, most people show up at ten to nine.”

The current layout would also be an issue and any sort of modification to the current building would have to undergo a review as the courthouse is designated as a historical building.

Discussions regarding security in the building and whether or not it will change once the building is expected to be discussed in the future, once a more firm date for opening the Court House has been set.